The Human Factor
by feytwilight
Summary: Tony tried to smother the warm fuzzy feelings blooming in his gut. He remembered Fury and Hill's conversation about him and that did it. He was going to have to keep his distance from Bruce and the others or they might just end up becoming WSC targets as well, and he wasn't going to let that happen. He'd die first. -or- How Plot and Fluff have a baby called Pluff or Flot.
1. Chapter 1

The Battle for New York had ended, Shawarma had been eaten, Bruce had been clothed, and all was right with the world…for about five minutes. Then Fury decided to call them back for a debriefing on the limping Helicarrier. The Avengers wanted to say no; surely they'd earned a respite. But needs must, and they needed SHEILD on their side, and somewhere to incarcerate Loki. They had left him outside the Shawarma King by a parking meter with Thor's hammer placed on his chest. Loki glared at them helplessly while they ate. Was it childish…maybe, hilarious…most definitely, and it was effective. A Quinjet came to pick them up from the shop. Tony had decided to fly on his own in the suit; he needed to have a private conversation with Pepper anyways. Thor, who would also rather fly than ride, stayed in the jet instead in order to keep an eye on his homicidal brother. Hawkeye sat next to Thor and kept his arrow drawn to his cheek as he sighted unerringly at the trickster god, waiting and hoping for him to make any kind of move to escape. Loki for his part didn't even twitch. Though his eyes still somehow danced with infuriating amusement. Captain America kept a hand on Clint's other arm, willing him not to commit cold-blooded murder. Dr. Banner slumped in a corner his eyes barely open, exhausted from the multiple transformations he'd undergone during the day. Natasha rode with the nervous pilot up front as they headed toward the Helicarrier buried in the clouds. The tension mounted in the close space, and suddenly broke as Loki looked to his brother. "You surround yourself with peculiar mortals, Thor. Perhaps you would not be so easy amongst them if you knew some of what I know of them." Loki said with a sidelong glance towards the Black Widow, who ignored him, and Hawkeye, who to his credit did not flinch.

"I suggest you still your tongue brother, you have sorely harmed these warriors and their world, if they should wish to seek retribution upon you, I would be sorely pressed to intervene, especially if you would seek to provoke them." Thor said solemnly.

"Please, provoke me." Hawkeye stated with a cold smile, the arrow pointed at Loki's skull almost quivering in eagerness. Steve squeezed Clint's arm warningly as Loki looked aside, for a moment uncomfortable. He was intimately aware how serious the sharpshooter was being. The rest of the short trip passed in awkward silence.

Tony Stark's repulsors cut out as he landed heavily on the deck of the Helicarrier, just after ending his conversation with Pepper. She had apologized for not picking up his call; then had yelled at him for almost dying. He had also told her about Coulson's death. He hated her being in tears. She had landed in Japan after watching all the harrowing events on TV, and he couldn't even hug her, he couldn't fix it… He arrived before the Quinjet did, which turned out to be a good thing. He collapsed to both knees when he landed and breathed painfully for a full minute before pulling himself to his feet. The aches from his near death experience, probable cracked ribs and multiple contusions, bruises and total exhaustion were getting to him. He'd been able to hold out and hide it during the meal he'd insisted they have, but now it was getting to be too much. If he hadn't been in the suit he would have collapsed by now. He gasped uncomfortably as he straightened. "Sir? Your vitals are-" A British voice began.

"I know JARVIS." Tony interrupted, trying to allay his AI's concern. "Don't worry, after Fury's done showering us in flowery over-the-top praises and telling us how crazy awesome we are, I'm going to hit the bed hard, for like a year or twenty, at the very least."

"I should hope so, Sir." JARVIS responded unhappily. Tony groaned but managed to walk towards the conference room, ignoring the SHEILD agents who hailed him. When he reached the room he spotted Fury with his hands clasped behind his back staring out of the cracked bay windows towards the city, still smoking in the distance. Tony grabbed the nearest seat and sprawled ungainly in it in the Iron Man suit. He was vaguely surprised the chair held him, though it did creak alarmingly. Fury must have heard him enter, but he continued to ignore him, saying nothing. Tony carefully pried his helmet off; the faceplate had been hastily repaired prior to their final encounter with Loki in the penthouse, and was not coming off again. Basically this suit was a hunk of scrap. He was already planning the schematics for the next one. After this battle, he had gotten more than enough input for some much needed upgrades. Tony looked around the empty room and after finding nothing to catch his interest, once more returned his attention to Fury. Never one to endure silence well Tony shattered it abruptly.

"What does a superhero have to do to get a drink around here?" Tony asked with a quick smile. Fury turned around slowly and glared at him out of his one eye, which, Tony was certain had like fifty times the power of a normal two-eyed glare.

"Hero?" Fury asked, his voice dangerously soft. Tony quickly hid his flinch at the tone and question; he checked Fury's face before replying with his usual flippancy.

"Yeah, you know one of the people that saved New York, flew a nuke into space, killed a fucking fleet of homicidal E.T.'s. Pretty sure that counts as heroic and super." Tony folded his arms against his chest, covering his arc reactor's light, the dented metal scraped loudly, and sounded like a rough scream. Fury snorted a short dry laugh.

"More like grand standing and self preservation, than supposed "super" heroism." Nick Fury said while looming over the metal table with both hands. Tony's mouth opened and closed at the open hostility in Fury's face and the seriousness of his words. Tony refused to believe that the man before him, a man he respected, would treat him like this after he had risked his life to stop an alien invasion and a WMD. He swiftly retreated once more into his mask of snarkness.

"What?" Stark asked while lifting a metal hand to cup his ear. "I must have misheard you, because it sure as hell sounds like you're speaking out of your ass." Fury moved closer to Stark, getting within his personal space as he continued driving his words home.

"You heard me Stark. You could have disarmed that nuke midflight. Or if you had managed to buckle down and focus on closing the portal in the first place that situation would have never occurred. The motherfucking hole was opened from your own front doorstep, how could you not have know that, don't you pride yourself on knowing everything, being ten steps ahead of everybody? You could have at least have kept your temper and nosy AI to yourself while in the Helicarrier. If you had, Loki would still be imprisoned here, there wouldn't be a slew of casualties, and Colson wouldn't be a stain on those beloved cards of his." Stark's eyes couldn't widen any further as he only just managed from leaning back from Fury's rage and the horrifying accusation that he had caused a multitude of deaths including that of Agents'.

"You're shitting me..." Tony whispered, desperately, only an inch away from pleading. Fury drove the final nail home without mercy.

"No Stark, I'm not 'shitting' you. You are no hero, you're a selfish wannabe, a disgrace and a fucking huge disappointment." Fury's words resonated in Tony's mind, echoing those of another. He blocked it from his mind, eyes refocusing on the man in front of him. Tony started, attempting to wrestle up some kind of defense.

"What?! No! I-" Tony said, trying to deny the undeniable truth of Fury's words.

"Save it!" Fury snapped. "A team of real heroes have arrived and I've got to go and greet them." Fury finished.

"Real heroes? Those are my team!" Tony said desperately, beginning to stand.

"No those are the Avengers, you're the _consultant_, and be grateful you're still that." Fury said quiet and damming. Tony froze and sank back into his seat.

"But I'm-" Tony began faintly. Fury ignored him and headed back towards the open doors.

"And if you want to stay a _consultant_ I suggest you do your job and _consult_, work on the repairs for the Helicarrier, and be a good little engineer." Fury waved a hand behind him. "Why don't you wait here, have some coffee, I'm sure your participation in the debrief will be _invaluable_." Fury finished sarcastically as he left without a backward glance. Tony Stark stared after him, silent and breaking.

The Avengers met with Director Fury and Maria Hill when they disembarked from the Quinjet. Fury shook Captain America's hand in welcome, while six SHIELD agents pointed their guns at Loki. Loki for his part ignored them. Thor and the rest of the Avengers reluctantly left their charge with the agents, who then proceeded to place a metallic muzzle and arm length shackles on the mad God. Thor looked like he was going to protest the treatment, but then thought better of it. Fury nodded at them and led them to the conference room where they saw a brooding Ironman, his helmet on, lazing in a chair, staring off into space. Banner collapsed into the seat next to him. Stark didn't acknowledge his presence or anyone else's. The rest followed suit, tiredly grabbing seats and looking toward Fury to begin the debriefing. Fury silently looked at them and then said, "You did good today, but we could have done better." Ironman snorted mechanically. Fury ignored the outburst and continued. "The enemy was defeated but we had many civilian and official casualties." Hawkeye looked down at the table, remembering the men he had killed while under Loki's control. It made him want to seek out the God in his cell and use every trick he knew to take that smug look off his face permanently. He felt a hand under the table gripping his tightly. He glanced over at Natasha next to him who looked straight ahead at Fury, her face giving nothing away. Hawkeye closed his eyes a moment and then returned his attention to the meeting. "Captain," Fury said, with a sharp nod towards Steve. "What would you say were some of things that occurred today that could have gone better?" Ironman shifted his head around.

"You're kidding right?" He said incredulously. Fury stared him down while Captain America shook his head in his direction.

"No, it's a valid question, if we are going to be working together, we need to go over what went wrong today so that we can improve our strategies. It's the only reason I agreed to this debrief in the first place, despite how exhausted we all are. We have to go over this while it's fresh. As you had said we may not be solders, but there are some things we have in common with them, such as protecting innocents and this will help us do exactly that." Ironman tilted his head.

"_We_?" Steve Rogers thought it was an odd thing to say but shook it off as Fury replied for him.

"Yes Ironman, _we_, as in _we_ are _trying_ to finish this meeting. This is not one of you're playboy parties. This matters; we are trying to save lives here." Tony moved, pushing his chair back and gesturing with his hands.

"Fuck it does, I've got actual important shit I've got to be getting on with, like yesterday." Ironman said.

"You don't know the meaning of important, you are far too arrogant; this is not your fucking kingdom. You, Stark, are no King of Thrones!" Fury yelled.

"And you, _Sir_, are no _fucking_ Jack Sparrow!" Stark yelled in response. Bruce Banner snorted into his crappy SHEILD coffee in the ringing silence, as Hawkeye covered his smile with a hand. Natasha was carefully expressionless. Rogers looked around the table, confused.

"I…don't get it." Rogers said quietly, regretfully. Thor clapped him on the back in commiseration.

"Nor do I, who is this Sparrow, is he related to our Hawk?" Thor asked in a booming voice. Hawkeye only just resisted laughing out loud, the look on Fury's face was priceless.

"I'll explain it to you later." Banner said to Thor with a suspiciously serious face. Stark stood up abruptly and started stalking to the exit. He turned around, the blue light shining from his eye slits.

"If you need me, call me, on second thought, don't, I won't pick up. I'm out of this fucking eye in the sky." Tony said, and then he turned his head to Banner and added. "And Brucie you are so invited to my awesome pad, come check it out after your done with this bitch fest." Ironman left without another word. The others looked after him with varying degrees of confusion and consternation.

"What was that about?" Banner asked worriedly. Steve gazed after their missing teammate with disappointment swirling in his gut. Nick Fury's eye patch twitched as he shrugged.

Tony crashed through the penthouse window he had originally been thrown out of hours ago. As soon as he landed on the dented and damaged marble floor he collapsed.

"Sir!" JARVIS exclaimed from within the suit.

"M-alright J, just give me a sec." Tony said thickly as he snapped himself out of the front of the armor and crawled out, like a caterpillar from a cocoon, breathing heavily on the floor for a few minutes. He feebly pried the bracelets off his wrists.

"Well…that could have gone…better." Tony said in a small voice, breathing painfully.

"Oh sir, would you like me to call someone?" JARVIS asked plaintively.

"Hell no." Tony said definitively. He hated even the idea of having anyone see him this pathetic. Bad enough he'd almost broken in front of Fury. God he was so damn weak! Howard had a saying; Stark men are made of iron. He would be steel. He struggled to his feet and staggered to his bar. He chugged the most expensive bottle of liquor he could find and sank slowly down to the floor leaning against the wall as his bruised eyes winced shut, the bottle clutched like a lifeline in his weakened fist.

Assistant Director Maria Hill sat in Fury's office after having watched the conference room scene unfold on her tablet as Fury entered. "I see the mission was a success." She said. She resisted the urge to itch at the bandages that were covering the side of her face. Fury's back slumped once the door to his office was closed. He always relaxed more when he was around her. He folded his hands in his lap as he sat down.

"A bit too successful, I expected him to put up more of a fight, but then I did know where to hit him." Fury said. Maria noticed the pained grimace the man made no attempt to hide.

"It was…painful to watch." She said.

"Trust me it was more painful to do, but it was necessary. The WSC will need a scapegoat for the events of today. It certainly helps that it was from Tony Stark's own tower that the wormhole was opened, and that he was the one that diverted their nuke." Fury said. Maria nodded.

"It was lucky you were able to get him alone first." Fury fixed her with his trademark stare.

"Luck had nothing to do with it, the man always chooses to fly than ride. I knew he would arrive here first, why do you think I arranged for the debrief in the first place." Maria's lips tugged up in small smile.

"And that's why you get paid the big bucks, Sir, or should I say Jack Sparrow, what an awful pirate joke." She said. Fury put his hands over his head.

"No jokes, not now Maria." He said.

"It was harsh but it needed to be done Nick." Maria said seriously, trying to reassure her boss.

"Yes, he had to be separated from the other Avengers in such a way that the others wouldn't protest. He'll keep himself apart from them now. The WSC _will_ attack, but better their ire be directed solely at Stark, than the Initiative as a whole, or SHEILD itself, the world needs us." Fury's back straightened with the strength of his purpose. Maria settled herself back in her chair and mimicked him.

"Yes. But who knows Sir, Stark may just surprise us and survive being left out in the cold." Maria said. Fury shook his head slowly at her.

"Make no mistake Hill, we are not leaving him out in the cold, we are hand feeding him to the wolves. But it's the bigger picture at stake. We have priorities."

"And Stark isn't one of them." Maria said sadly.

"Did anyone else think that was strange?" Dr. Banner asked outside the conference room after the two hour-long debriefing. Natasha shrugged silently. Thor had left to babysit his brother and the Tesseract, until someone figured out what to do with them. Thor was already insisting that he be allowed to return them both to his own world.

"I don't know Stark. But being offensive seems par for the course for him." Steve Rogers said with a frown. Clint smirked.

"The only strange thing I could see was when he invited you over, you just met didn't you?" Clint asked, curious. Banner nodded, remembering how Tony Stark was the first person he'd met in a long time to treat him like a human being despite knowing what he was. His thoughts shied away from Betty.

"We met earlier today for the first time…" Bruce said simply. Clint leaned his side against a wall, folding his arms.

"And he's already inviting you over, I'd watch yourself if I were you." He said.

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked his head cocked slightly to the side.

"Just saying, the guy's known to have a reputation, right 'Tash?" Clint insinuated, nudging the Black Widow.

"Hmm." Natasha said noncommittally, staring off into the distance. Clint shook his head.

"Right, well, are you really going to see him?" Clint asked.

"He did invite me, and it's not as if I have anywhere else to stay. I certainly have no wish to experience SHEILD's _hospitality_ anytime soon; I'm pretty sure my room was jettisoned. Besides, I'd like an explanation of what went on in that debrief, something smelled…off about it." Banner said. Steve wondered if Banner might not be right, Fury seemed if anything to be goading Stark, which was…odd. However, Stark was volatile in a way his father, Howard had never been, and completely dismissive of authority. He was vaguely surprised the billionaire had even listened to him at all during the battle. But it was undeniable the man was a hero, even if he had teamwork issues. Steve had learned just how dangerous that rocket (nuke) could have been, far _too_ dangerous. He still had trouble believing his friend Howard would have had a hand in designing something capable of that level of destruction. He shook himself out of his revere, he was far more tired than he had realized. Today had been a long day, not the longest he had ever had, but definitely up there. He reached out a hand to Banner.

"Well, it was nice working with you Dr. Banner. I hope to see you again soon." Captain America said while shaking the man's hand with a smile on his face.

"You as well, Captain." Banner replied politely, returning the grip. Banner turned and left towards the Quinjet dock.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Clint called after him with a leer.

"Which doesn't leave much left." Natasha muttered under her breath. Bruce Banner ignored the assassins, and headed for what was left of Stark Tower, wondering if he was making a huge mistake.

"Sir?" The English accent drifted through the dark and decimated penthouse. Dark save for a faint blue light shinning behind a sweat soaked shirt.

"N-no, pl-." Tony Stark's voice whispered desperately from behind the bar.

"Sir! Sir!" The voice insisted, breaking through Tony's nightmares with the long ease of practice. Tony startled awake, jostling the spilled bottle beside him on the floor.

"W-what?" Tony stuttered.

"Sir, Dr. Banner is down in the lobby." JARVIS answered. Tony blinked at the information and remembered everything, and then immediately tried to forget what had happened on the Helicarrier.

"What? Oh, right, buddy Brucie's here. Yay! Wha-" He asked.

"You've slept for little over two hours sir." JARVIS precipitated the answer.

"Right, time to get moving then, Ow, son of a bitch!" Tony began to more off the cold floor and then clutched at his side. He climbed the rest of the way painfully and gripped the bar to stay upright. "Tell him I'll be right down."

"Of course Sir." JARVIS replied. Tony began to work his way to the elevator, until JARVIS's apologetic voice stopped him. "Sir, the lift is currently out of order due to the extensive damage the building has taken, you'll have to take the stairs." Tony stared at the nearest eyecam incredulously.

"You're kidding, right? Seriously J, that's like 93 flights." Tony said.

"I know Sir." JARVIS answered. Tony groaned, his shoulders hunching in on themselves.

"Ugh. I knew I should have installed that fireman's pole, but Pepper said I couldn't." Tony whined piteously.

"I'm aware Sir, would you like me to inform Dr. Banner to meet you half way?" JARVIS asked, after already having asked Dr. Banner to do so. Tony nodded, relieved to have the hellish stair climbing time halved.

"Yeah sure, why not?"

Dr. Bruce Banner had tiredly walked to the tower from where the jet had left him. He entered what was left of Stark Tower stepping carefully though the shattered glass doors and moved through the empty lobby with something approaching trepidation. He was just about to change his mind and look for some hotel to crash in, when a prim English voice suddenly appeared out of thin air and greeted him. "Dr. Banner. Welcome to Stark Tower, the lifts are currently out of order but if you would use the stairs to your right you will be led to Mr. Stark, who is eagerly awaiting you." Bruce started back and looked around frantically for the source of the voice.

"Um…right, and you are?" He asked, half worried that he might be even more exhausted than he had at first thought. The voice spoke again.

"I am JARVIS, an A.I. created by Sir in order to assist him." Banner thought about that for a second.

"Sir meaning Tony Stark I presume." Bruce asked.

"Correct." JARVIS responded.

"Okaay." Bruce said taking the impressive A.I. in stride. He looked over at an emergency door over to the right and headed towards it. "I'll take the stairs then, um, how many flights is this building?" He asked while looked at the ceiling, needing to direct his eyes while speaking to the disembodied voice.

"Do not worry, Sir is coming down to meet you half way as I speak."

"Oh, well that's alright then." Banner said while nodding, too tired to notice or recognize the emotion that colored the A.I.'s voice.

He met Tony Stark after staggering up more than fifty flights. He was pretty sure the endless stairs would have been the death of him if he weren't already certain that he was nigh unkillable. He turned the corner, wondering if it would be worth it to just give up and go back down, when he saw Tony Stark lying in a curled unconscious sweaty lump on the next landing. He rapidly ran up to the man and crouched above him. He breathed a sigh of relief at finding that he was still breathing, even if it was labored. Banner's experience over the past few years came to the fore as he felt at Stark's neck and found his pulse was thready but there. He thumbed open an eyelid and checked his pupil, noting the smell of liquor on his breath as he did so. He also noticed the pallor of the billionaire's slick skin as well. JARVIS voice issued calmly from Stark's jean pocket.

"Dr. Banner, Sir has no serious injury but is exceedingly exhausted. If you would be so kind as to assist Sir in getting to a bed, you will find a guest apartment on the next level." Banner reached nervously into Stark's pants and pulled out an advanced looking cell phone.

"I am not that kind of doctor, he needs an ambulance. I'm calling 911." Banner determined as he tried dialing said number, but the keypad would not work. He silently cursed his lack of an Other-Guy-proof phone.

"I am aware of your credentials doctor, but I must respectfully disagree with your assessment, Mr. Stark despises hospitals and would argue that in the aftermath of this battle, there are many others who desperately need medical assistance and he would not want to take up valuable resources that could be better utilized elsewhere."

"The man is unconscious, he needs help!" Bruce said urgently. He could hear a faint roar echoing from within his mind and closed his eyes as he reined in his emotions roughly. The green receded from his eyes as the A.I. continued.

"You are help Dr. Banner, please bring him to the room I specified. Please." The A.I.'s voice pleaded, radiating deep concern. Bruce rocked on his heels, shocked for a moment before acceding to the A.I.'s directions. He couldn't help but marvel on the creation that was JARVIS. The A.I. seemed to be a creation even more spectacular than the arc reactor and Iron Man armor combined.

Banner tiredly dropped the smaller man onto a large bed and then sat beside him for a moment, breathing deeply. He checked Stark's vitals again. His pulse seemed to have steadied. Banner couldn't help but wonder how this was his life. He dragged himself to his feet and made the billionaire as comfortable as he could make him. Then he grabbed a chair over and watched over him as he slept, before unwillingly nodding off himself. JARVIS watched over both of them.

Tony Stark blinked his eyes open slowly at the unfamiliar surroundings and wiped some drool from the corner of his mouth. He focused in on the physicist sleeping in the chair beside his bed. The scruffy man's head rested on his chest and his leg was folded one over the other, his arms crossed limply over his stomach. Tony abruptly realized that he was in one of his guest bedrooms. He moved achingly slowly from under the covers and reached for his phone on the stand beside him. He checked his messages and threw some obnoxious texts at JARVIS for a while. He smiled at the replies. If anyone had had to see him in such a pitiful state he was glad it had been Bruce of all people. He was sure Bruce wouldn't use his weakness against him. But then he'd been sure of Obie too. He squashed down his sudden paranoia and looked over at Bruce fondly. Bruce seemed to somehow feel his regard. The man's head snapped up and zeroed in on him. "You're awake." Tony resisted the urge to say obviously. "Oh right, I'm awake too, must have slept. Obviously. What time is it?" Banner asked rambling. Tony grinned and showed him the face of his phone.

"6am, eight hours of sleep and all is well!" Tony singsonged. Banner frowned and pointed at him.

"You collapsed." Banner accused him. Tony nodded and pointed back at him.

"You slept with me." Tony retorted. Banner narrowed his eyes and tilted his head.

"You're going to tell that to everybody, aren't you?" Bruce asked. Tony's smile widened as he toyed with his phone again.

"Tweeted it an hour ago. #isleptwiththehulk. Was it as good for you as it was for me?" Stark asked innocently. Banner sighed loudly.

"How are you feeling?" He asked. Tony checked himself over, finding that he felt relatively better; his headache had faded to the background and was no longer trying to beat his skull in with a blunt stick.

"Better actually, how about you Jolly Rancher? You look all bright eyed and bushy tailed since your Hulkout. You know it'd be really cool if Hulk had a tail, I could totally see that, maybe like a green lion tail or something. By the by I'm glad you came." Tony added, eyes burrowing into his own gratefully. Banner smiled gently.

"I'm glad I did too." His smile faded remembering how terrifying Stark's condition had been. "If you were that tired you shouldn't have tried walking down all those flights." Tony's hands twisted in the blankets surrounding him, as he grinned at him.

"Had to see you Bruciekins, it's proper host etiquette, and I'm nothing but the epitome of propriety and hostliness. Any who, JARVIS says that the elevator's are back online again, thank fuck, and I need a shower." Tony said in disgust while sniffing at his shirt.

"Hmm. Me too." Banner agreed wholeheartedly. Tony leered.

"Wanna share?" He asked suggestively.

"Emphatic no." Banner snorted as he answered succinctly. Tony mock pouted.

"Awzzz. Why not?" He whined piteously.

"Tony." Banner said deadpanned.

"Brucie." Tony mimicked. Bruce face palmed. Tony grimaced. "Fine, but I get firsties." Tony gave in with bad grace.

"Sounds good." Bruce agreed hiding his smile.

"Then more food." Tony added. Bruce's stomach decided to growl loudly.

"Sounds better. It seems like forever since Shawarma." Banner said feelingly. Tony lifted a finger.

"And that should be a bumper sticker, which I'm totally putting on my suit's ass right under the I Slept With The Hulk one I've already had JARVIS fabricate." JARVIS's voice sounded from an unseen speaker in the room.

"Your scholarly utilization of my abilities constantly impresses me Sir."

"As it should." Tony stated with a solemn nod.

Tony slowly raised himself off the bed and carefully walked to the elevator, trying not to show the observant doctor just how much pain he was still in. Bruce however, was preoccupied. He ached from the awkward position he had taken in the chair and tried to work the kinks out of his frame as he followed Tony. The ride up would have been awkwardly silent but for the ongoing banter that Tony kept up with mostly himself. They eventually arrived at the penthouse floor. Tony gestured Bruce to the remarkably intact liquor cabinet in the corner before striding to his bathroom, shooing a stray pigeon from his couch on the way. He vaguely wondered how the hell the winged rat had gotten up this high in the first place. Bruce ignored the alcohol and looked around at the mess of an apartment, noting in passing the broken shell of an Iron Man suit lying neglected amongst shattered glass.

In all the excitement that had occurred since he arrived at the Tower, Bruce Banner had forgotten the real reason he had come to see Tony Stark in the first place. He had forgotten that he had meant to ask Tony why the debriefing on the Helicarrier had gone so pear-shaped, but Tony's sickness and his own bout of sleepiness and Tony's subsequent distracting banter had thrown that thought far from his mind. Bruce moseyed around the wreaked flat and picked up a stray magazine, New Scientist, and struggled to read some of the more interesting articles while he waited for his turn to take a shower. He wished his glasses didn't have to break every time he had an episode with the Other Guy.

Tony leaned against the closed door of the bathroom heaving a sigh of relief. He forced himself forward, stripping and entering his shower, which was the perfect temperature. Tip of the hat to JARVIS. The cleansing mist sprayed him from all sides, extremely gentle on his sore muscles and bruises, and not flashback inducing. Unlike a regular shower or god forbid a bath would be, which was nice. He looked at himself in the glass reflection. His right side and back were a mass of black, blue, and red all over. Great now he was a pun, how was this his life. He rested his head on the cool glass as he soaped himself, groaning as he relaxed from the heated mist. "JARVIS you still in SHEILD's systems?" He whispered.

"Indeed Sir, they believe they've removed me." JARVIS replied softly.

"As if they could. Anything I should know?" Tony asked. The silence spoke louder than words.

"…"

"J?" Tony asked sternly.

"I _may_ have picked up on a conversation that explains Fury's treatment of you, though it does not excuse it." JARVIS stated reluctantly.

"I'm glad to hear he's still on your shit list. Play it." Tony ordered. One glass wall shone with a blue radiance and resolved to show a video of Fury's office as he and Maria had a conversation about yours truly. He could barely believe his eyes or his ears. But he did believe JARVIS. After the video finished he felt oddly better. Now he knew that there was reason that Fury had said the things he had. Even if he was still infuriated that the manipulative bastard had hurt him that way, no matter how good the reason. However, he could admit to himself that he wasn't all that crazy about being hand fed to wolves. That just did not sound good, no matter how you spun it. After all the wolves might be on a diet or something and he'd just hate to spoil someone's diet. That would be mean.

"Sir?" JARVIS asked tentatively. Tony shook his wet hair out of his face and ran a soapy hand through his hair.

"Well that was…expected, it makes sense. Of course the WSC needs a scapegoat, and who better than me? I should have realized." Tony said bitterly. "Erase the footage, both my heart to heart with Nick and the one with Maria and him." Tony said.

"But Sir!" JARVIS protested.

"Erase them." Tony insisted.

"As you wish." JARVIS responded.

"Don't go all Princess Bride on me J."

"I wouldn't dream of it Sir."

"Enjoy your shower?" Bruce asked when Stark entered the den with a towel around his shoulders, wearing new clothes.

"You've no idea." Tony replied with a PR smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Looks like we missed a bit of fun while we were sleeping." Tony added with a wave towards the sun.

"Fun?" Banner asked speculating on what he missed. Tony nodded sagely.

"Seems Loki and the Tesseract will be going home to not-so-mythical Asgard with Thor." Tony said.

"Good." Bruce said.

"Good?" Tony questioned.

"The Tesseract is too much of a temptation here, a temptation we obviously can't resist. And I didn't much like the idea of Loki being on Earth for any amount of time, guy's crazier than the bag of cats I thought he was and far too powerful." Bruce explained. Tony's smile turned more genuine.

"True dat. I knew there was a reason I liked you, Big Guy." Tony said.

"Can you not?" Bruce asked sadly.

"Not what? Go take your shower buddy, the water's warm. Of course the water's always whatever temp you like, but still. I'll try to find you some fresh clothes, kay?" Tony asked hoping he could find something that would fit the broad shouldered man.

"Thanks Tony." Tony tried to smother the warm fuzzy feelings blooming in his gut. He remembered Fury and Hill's conversation about him and that did it. He was going to have to keep his distance from Bruce and the others or they might just end up becoming WSC targets as well, and he wasn't going to let that happen. He'd die first.


	2. Chapter 2

New Yorkers being New Yorkers and therefore being desensitized to all manner of violent weird shit happening in their own backyard, even an alien battle of epic proportions had become blasé after a night of talk show hostery, he's definitely going to check to see what Cobert thought of the whole thing; dude's hilarious, the cleanup from the battle was already well underway. Tony was not at all surprised that his favorite pizza place around the corner was still open despite being littered with dead Chitauri. Before leaving the Tower, Tony found his sunglasses and cap and then walked to the shop to pick up his order, extra everything. He found a few changes of clothes that looked like they might fit Bruce from a shop along the way. Of course, just about everyone recognized him, but he was able to make it back to the penthouse without any major incidents. Not for the first time, he was tempted to put a paper bag with a smiley face over his head. He could totally patent that; call it Hobo Baggins or something. Is that even funny, _God_ he doesn't even know anymore, he can't _still_ be tired. He hadn't slept for so long in _years_! He just was so not up to people dealing right now. He was all kinds of achy. He walked stiffly, keeping his cracked ribs as stationary as possible while he moved. His PR grin felt like a rictus on his face. A paper bag smile would look more realistic.

He took the time while hurrying with the steaming pizza box to think about his options. He'd read Bruce's file. He'd seen the hunted look in the man's eyes when they would meet his own which was rare, and couldn't help but feel a certain kinship with him. Bruce was Tony without his protective masks, vulnerable. Tony wanted to protect him, to give him a place where the man could just breathe and be himself. But that place couldn't be with Tony, not until he had figured out a way to deal with the WSC. And he would find a way, come hell or high water, no one fucked with Tony Stark. He would give those bastards the indigestion of their life if they tried to devour him. But the question remained, what to do with Bruce Banner. By the time he'd arrived at the Tower and saw the large letter A on the top of the building, he had the beginnings of an answer.

"I can't believe you got me an Ironman hoodie to wear." Bruce fresh from his shower and full from pizza lifted the green hoodie out from his chest to look down at it in bemusement. Tony shrugged, finishing off some oozy cheesy crust.

"What? It's in your size, and looks awesome! I mean I would have gotten a Hulk one, but they haven't made them yet. I can't wait to see your catchphrase is!" Tony finished, his voice exited.

"And yours is…" Bruce Banner trailed off questioningly. A song began playing from Tony's mobile.

"Shaft!" Tony snapped his head up.

"That is _not_ my catchphrase. Mine is, "I am Ironman!" He began singing some of Black Sabbath's song as he tapped at his phone screen. "Hmmm, Fury says its time to see Loki off world. Through the Tesseract Stargate and beyond!"

"Oh, right." Bruce nodded, his mouth a flat line. Tony frowned and fiddled with his phone.

"Is that okay, I know the guy messed with you in the Helicarrier..." Bruce shook his head, his hair flopping about.

"No…no it's fine. I want to see him gone."

"Preferably dragged off kicking and screaming. I hope Odin's got something nasty in store for him." Tony added with a sneer.

"If Norse lore is anything to go by, I wouldn't want to be in Loki's shoes for all the tea in China." Banner said evenly.

"Have you actually seen Loki's shoes, like no style what's so ever, anti-style!" Tony laughed. Bruce pointed at his shirt.

"Worse than an Ironman hoodie?" He asked.

"Hell no, your totally dressed to the nines Brucie dear." Tony sighed morosely and gestured towards a bag on the sofa. "But…if it bothers you so much, there are some more 'you' clothes on the sofa." Bruce moved quickly towards the sofa and rifled through the bag with a relieved smile in Tony's direction.

"Yeah, these are more 'me'. Thanks." Tony waved his thanks off with an awkward hand.

"Forget about it." Bruce swiftly got changed in Tony's bedroom. "Soooo, you good?" Bruce nodded calmly fingering the middle button on his purple shirt. "Then let's get going."

Clint Barton was more than nervous. He'd only been free from Loki's control for a day and a half. If he closed his eyes he could still feel the blue tinged contentment that had filled every part of his being, invaded him. He shuddered uncontrollably for a moment, before wrapping his arms around himself to still the tremors. He'd been mindfucked, it had been worse than anything he had ever experienced. Even his crap childhood couldn't hold a candle to his time with Loki. Choiceless, enslaved, forced to kill his own- He wasn't supposed to think like that. Natasha would be angry if she even suspected his line of thinking. This was all Loki's doing, it was. He had to go and see him leave, hell; he wished he could see him executed. He wished he could carry out said execution himself, with his bare hands, slowly, painfully. His hands clenched, digging his nails into his palms. He was worried that he couldn't be trusted not to kill the would-be God the instant he saw him again. When he had found out what had happened to Coulson, what Loki had done to him, what Clint had allowed to happen to the man who had been closer than any family he had ever known… He didn't think he could constrain himself. Not anymore, he'd been too long without his own control. If he weren't currently confined to his room and guarded he would have done something already.

"You're getting rusty." Clint started and turned to see Natasha Romanoff having entered the room in complete silence. Her eyes scanned him, seeing everything. He never concealed anything from her, he never could.

"Am not." He retorted. She raised an elegant eyebrow.

"Oh?" Natasha asked. Clint winced, rubbing his arms.

"I…can't. I'm…frightened." Natasha moved to kneel in front of him and put her hand on top of his own on his arms.

"No your not, not really." She said. Barton shook his head with a sad smile.

"No I am Tash, I really am."

"If you can't control yourself-" Natasha started.

"Then you'll control me…" Clint interrupted bitterly. Natasha tightened her hold on him.

"No, then I'll kill him myself." She said. Clint's eyes widened as his breathing stuttered.

"He's a God." He stated.

"He's a dick, and I know how to preform a castration ritual." She allowed herself a small genuine smile. She could show a little of herself to him, he deserved as much of herself as she could give.

"Ick. I don't know what's scarier about that statement. Your knowledge about that or the fact that you're serious."

"Hmm, both I should think." She purred in his ear as he laughed.

Thor held the Tesseract tightly and kept his eyes firmly fixed upon his shackled brother. He wished he had had the time to see his beloved Jane. He was certain she was going to be very cross when she heard of his return and sudden departure. However he was also certain she would understand the importance of returning the Tesseract to its rightful place. Then again she'd probably wish to study the device herself. His eyes refocused on Loki. He couldn't be sure with the gag in place, but it seemed to him that he was…smiling. Thor frowned, suddenly wondering if his brother might not have some mischief still hidden up his sleeve. The Man of Iron slapped at his shoulder distracting him from his musings.

"So, off you pop then, hop somewhere over the rainbow, and don't rest in the poppies whatever you do." Anthony Stark said rapidly.

"I will attempt not to, Man of Iron." Thor replied gravely.

"Rrright." Stark said while rolling his eyes. The tense man who dwelled within the green ogre shuffled from foot to foot, not meeting anyone's gaze. The Captain, without his uniform, watched the proceedings steadily. And the Hawk…Thor did not like the look of the archer's cold gray eyes as he stared at his brother; the ruby headed Lady Widow standing loosely by his elbow. Not that he wished to begrudge the Hawk his just revenge. But family was family, even if it was adopted family. Thor fixed his eyes at Loki and forcefully turned the Tesseract device, transporting himself and Loki back home. He greeted Heimdall with a booming hail as the golden machinery spun brightly into being around them. There was no place like home.

Steve Rogers wasn't really surprised at Stark's lack of seriousness at such a vital occasion. Though he was pleased that he once again understood the references. He watched the brothers closely as they disappeared into the light. He _was_ surprised however, that Stark had bothered to show up at all, after leaving the debriefing so rudely yesterday. He also found it curious that Dr. Banner was still with him. But the fellow had to kip somewhere, and he really couldn't blame him for not wanting SHEILD accommodations. He himself wasn't crazy about staying in the rookie apartment building, conveniently located in good-old downtown Brooklyn. Living in his childhood town, surrounded by others of his own age, sharing nothing in common with them, made him realize once again how out of touch he really was. Sometimes he felt his full ninety-five years, the passing of time lying heavily on his muscular shoulders. Sometimes…he barely felt human. He shook hands politely and said his farewells to the team before leaving on his old motorcycle that Fury had found preserved in his father's storage, and re-gifted to him. He had no idea where he was going. He was lost in every sense of the word; he wished he could be found. He decided to visit the Catskills temporarily, but couldn't find what he was searching for, whatever it was, though he did enjoy the brief breath of fresh air. Reluctantly, he ended up going back to his lonely SHEILD issued apartment.

(3d)abny

Tony left Bruce and New York behind a few days after sending Loki home. He and Pep had already drawn up some plans for the reconstruction of the Tower. He mentioned something about the incoming cold weather as an excuse to Bruce before hopping on his jet with Pepper for Malibu. He wanted to distance himself from Pepper as well, in case the WSC decided to attack him through her. But she would have none of it; being the feisty, sexy creature he had fallen for. He didn't tell her about the WSC. She knew something was wrong, but she didn't pry. He loved her for that more than anything. She could push to his breaking point, and then leave it up to him. Ask without asking. He wished he could share the burden with her, but he wouldn't. She would go all mama bear and attack the World Security Council head on. Which he wouldn't mind watching, except that he was afraid that she would get squished in the struggle. Power without a face was dangerous. It was not held accountable, and did not give a shit about anything that wasn't itself. He didn't want Pepper to have to face off against the soulless organization; she was too good for them. Tony however, wasn't.

(1.5w)abny

Tony Stark entered the Helicarrier in his newest suit, Mark 43. The carrier was currently flying over Hoboken, New Jersey. He was tempted to stop and check on Bruce at the Tower on the way. Unfortunately, he remembered his promise to keep himself separate until the threat was dealt with. He'd even gotten Happy out of the way. He'd sent him over to protect Pepper as her undercover bodyguard. Hopefully that would protect both of them, and of course Rhodey was as safe as his best tech could make him, which was very. He hadn't seen Fury since the disastrous debrief from hell, and he really wasn't all that crazy about doing so. The man's words still stung. They still felt true, hell maybe they were. But that didn't really matter. It was important that he upgraded the Helicarrier, and be a good little engineer. It was a vital tool in protecting the populace, and the fact that it had been taking out by an assassin with an arrow and a few lines of code was just plain sad. He would rather have delivered the new designs and mods electronically. But unfortunately the upgrades needed to be imputed manually into the servers to insure their security. He reluctantly stepped out of the suit when he found an empty room to leave it in. No one could take it, but he hated being stripped of its protection. Not that he was weak or anything, he could handle Fury, yeah, he totally could. He strode down the hallway, waving cockily at the pencil pushers that passed him. After a few minutes wandering down the halls he detected a noise that sounded like someone…snoring. He looked around the corridor in each direction and saw no one. Then he looked up at the large vent crossing the hall with a grating in the middle. He found a chair by a door and dragged it over. He climbed it and peered in through the grate. A vague human shape seemed to be sleeping within. He took a screwdriver out of an inside pocket and popped open the screen, and began poking the person obnoxiously. "Oy!" Clint Barton yelled wrenching his body to the side. His sudden violent movement caused the vent to crash to the ground with Tony on top of it. Clint crawled out and glowered at him with deeply shadowed eyes.

"I could ask a lot of questions right now and I really, really want to. So lets start with why you were snoring, I thought you were a master assassin. Isn't snoring, un-ninja?" Tony asked while struggling to his feet. He straightened out his rumpled clothes. Clint arose to his full height and stared down his nose at the billionaire.

"I could strangle you right now in eleven different ways, is that ninja enough? And I'm more of a sniper than an assassin. So I snore, got a problem with that?" Barton said aggressively. Tony put his hands up playfully in surrender.

"Oooh touch-y! And the vents?" Tony queried.

"What about them?" Clint asked warily, keeping eye contact, his mouth a thin line.

"You sleep in them? Don't you have a bed?" Tony probed, leaning back on a wall.

"I was mapping them out and fell asleep. Got it?" Clint grumbled.

"Not really no, but let's pretend I do. Soooo mind guiding me to the server room while you're here? We can catch up on old times." Stark said. Clint reached a hand behind his neck and pinched.

"Yeah, not really up for that Stark." He said tiredly.

"Awes come on, we barely had a chance to talk last time." Tony begged.

"Lucky, lucky." Clint muttered to himself. "What do you need to go there for anyway?" He asked.

"Fury wanted me to update the carrier, stop it from being taken out by snoring snipers and the like." Tony smirked, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Clint looked up, feeling guilty but not showing it.

"Fine, whatever, the rooms this way." Clint moved off quickly towards the room in question, Tony walking beside him. Tony noticed how Clint's shoulders hunched when they walked past other SHEILD agents. He also noted how said agents either ignored Barton or outright scowled at him. He broke the silence between them gleefully.

"So Natalie here?" Tony asked.

"Natasha. And it's none of your business." Clint said brusquely.

"That's my favorite kind of business." Tony said with a wink.

"Here we are, Stark. I'm off." Clint said dropping him off at the door to the server room. He then began looking for the nearest grate to climb through.

"We'll always have Shawarma!" Tony called after him as Clint disappeared into the darkness of a vent.

Being thrown seventy years into the future was an experience Captain Steven Rogers wouldn't wish upon his worst enemy, and he had some pretty nasty enemies, but still... It honestly terrified him. It wasn't even so much the shocking differences between the centuries. It wasn't the new age technology; the constant attacks on his 40's sensitivities and 'old-fashioned' morals, or even the missing history that he was still trying to catch up on. It was in actuality the glaring similarities between this time and his own that truly jarred him. He would walk down an unfamiliar street in Brooklyn, past a row of televisions that recorded his movements in a shop window, then his head would snap around to see a park across from him. A park that he had often walked through hand in hand with his mother before a coughing fit would overtake him…then he would fly right back through time, until the noise and bustle of this futuristic City once more dragged him back to this reality in a dizzying blur. If the world had changed completely he could have dealt with that, he could have adapted, but this…

It would always come upon him suddenly, seeing a familiar car, classic, the smell of roasting chestnuts as he would leave the train, the once familiar streets, a well known brownstone, having a sarsaparilla from familiar shop, now called soda, Lady Liberty, still inspiring, every time he turned around there was something new, old, shocking him with its unfamiliar familiarity. So when SHEILD offered him a chance to do some good, Avenger PR work in Washington DC, he almost literally jumped at the chance to leave this hauntingly ghost-filled town. He needed to get away, even if only for a short while. The cleanup from the Battle of New York was well underway and he wasn't needed here. The other Avengers had each gone their separate ways, though he did have their contact information. Once he arrived and settled in the Capital he had every intention of writing them letters. He may not have trusted SHEILD since the Tesseract business, but he did believe in the Avengers Initiative, it had given him new purpose in this strange new Century. And if he had to play the dancing monkey once again to keep the Initiative alive, he would do so, because it's what Captain America would do, though he hoped this time he wouldn't have to lift a motorcycle filled with dancing dames. He wouldn't hold his breath though.

(1m)abny

"Is Widow still AWOL?" Maria Hill asked Nick Fury after giving him her monthly report.

"She sure as shit is!" Fury shouted.

"What could she be thinking, do you think she's defected?" Maria asked.

"She wouldn't. Not without Barton. I have no fucking clue what is in her head." Fury said rifling through the reports on his desk.

"On a lighter note, Stark's upgrades seem to be holding up well." Maria said, looking down at her tablet. Fury snorted.

"Of course they are, the man would do anything to stay on as a consultant to the team." Fury said ruefully. Hill rubbed her forefinger anxiously.

"Are we going to do anything about the Mandarin, Sir?" She asked in a rush. Fury let out a huffed breath.

"We can't." He said.

"Why?" She asked simply. Fury spread his hands.

"The WSC is making its move." Fury said quietly.

"Against Stark?" Maria asked with a gasp.

"So it seems." Fury nodded.

"But what about the civilian casualties?" She questioned.

"Not our problem." Fury replied.

"But isn't-" Maria said angrily.

"Stark will handle it or he'll fail, but we are not _allowed_ to get involved." Fury said gall making his words stick in his throat.

"Shit." Maria said succinctly.

"Yeah…shit." Fury agreed.


	3. Chapter 3

(1.3m)abny

He didn't catch Pepper. He asked her to fall and promised to catch her, to trust him, and he _missed_. Watching the curl of her reaching fingers as they just missed his own as she fell fast into the flowering flames, he could barely feel a thing. She was his heart, proof and all, and then he had lost her. He felt less and less human every day. Sometime he felt like more of a machine than his beloved machines were. Then she arose more like a phoenix from the flame than he ever was and she saved him. Pepper always saved him, inspired him, and loved him when no one else would. At least now he would have a chance to save her, to not miss. First he would cure her of Extremis, which she was injected with because of him, then he would deal with the WSC, free them both from that particular burden, and then he would leave Pepper, unclip her wings from the weight of him dragging her down. She deserved someone decent, someone who would catch her when she fell, and someone who wasn't so broken in oh so many ways. Tony held her smoking body in his arms and kissed her fiercely, painfully as the Helicarrier suddenly showed up overhead. SHEILD would, of course, conveniently arrive after the party was over. Not that he wanted them at his parties anyways. However it would have been nice if at least one of the Avengers had thought to come and help him out. He was sure that they must have heard about everything, well maybe not Thor, who was off world where they didn't get cable, but certainly everyone else. The news was practically shrieking its collective head off about it. But then he probably wasn't a real Avenger, Fury must have been right about that. If he had been surely one of them would have come. He tried not to feel the pang of his wounded heart at the thought and shied away from it.

It didn't take a genius level intellect to figure out who had been behind Aldrich Killian and his rag tag science team. The rubber stamp of the council had left its marks all over this shit fest. He had been impatiently waiting for them to make their move. And now the WSC had finally showed its dastardly, evildoing hand. Because of their funding of AIM and Killian, there was now a trail leading straight back to them, a very traceable trail. They were about to learn that they should never have fucked with him. They shouldn't have hurt Happy. They shouldn't have hurt Rhodey. And they should never, ever, have harmed Pepper. Those bastards were going to _pay_.

(1.8m)abny

"Hey JARVIS? How's it coming, man?" Tony asked while driving Dum-e and Butterfingers to his hotel. You's frame had been too badly damaged to recover from the ocean unfortunately, although his personality and CPU memory were still uploaded on the Stark Cloud. He would just need to rebuild You. Maybe he could give him some repulsor capabilities… He would like that. He shook himself and got back to the matter at hand, speaking to JARVIS through his earpiece as he wove through the Malibu traffic. Which was as pleasingly vicious as usual.

"I've getting a lock on their locations and information, now Sir." JARIVS's British tone responded, proudly.

"Details, details! Come on share with the rest of the class!" Tony yelled joyfully as he pulled sharply in front of a Honda Accord that had had the audacity to cut him off.

"The members of the World Security Council include…Mary Cooper-Maryland, CEO of Grecos LTD., Tiberius Stone-" Tony cut in harshly and turned the wheel sharply, almost striking a guardrail.

"Bastard!" Tony snarled. JARVIS continued impervious.

"Indeed Sir, CEO of Stone Industries, London, Gregorio Matigo-Spain, Interior of Defense, and Yuki Toshiro-Tokyo, President of Toshiro Technologies." JARVIS finished. Tony laughed and tossed his head.

"Ha! And they thought they were unknowable beings of untouchableness, JARVIS begin Protocol No' Mo' Money." Tony ordered.

"Initiating Protocol No' Mo' Money now Sir." JARVIS said.

"Fantastic! Hmmm, I can't help but wonder why I wasn't invited to this evil guild of evil in the first place? Surely I'm qualified, overqualified really…or at least I was…" Tony finished lamely.

"Perhaps your invite had gotten lost in the post, Sir?" JARVIS said playfully in his ear. Tony nodded in mock agreement, even though his A.I. could not currently see him.

"USPS is sooo unreliable these days. I'm sure that's it. You know J, I just had an awesome idea!" Tony said excitedly. JARVIS sighed.

"Not another, 'all my car's should have female KIT voice and programing' idea, is it Sir?" JARVIS asked. Tony smiled.

"Well they _should_! And I just needed to tweak the coding a bit. Although I will admit the Maserati was a tad over possessive, I'm sure she didn't mean to try to drive me over the pier and drown me. Anyways _this_ idea is waaay better. I should buy and privatize the post office! Pepper could have the postal service up and running at thrice the efficiency at less than half the cost within a week! I could totally see that, Stark Postal Service, delivering your mail at supersonic speeds! You know, Captain America totally has the hat for that, what with the Hermes wings and all he's got going, he could totally help deliver." Tony flapped a free hand at the side of his head. And then nodded assuredly. "Yeah, we're doing that; work on a cool SPS logo won't you J? And we need to celebrate our upcoming victorious cyber attack on the WSC. What kind of celebratory balloons do you like J?" Tony asked cocking his head.

"The Iron Man one they have at the Thanksgiving day parade?" The A.I. replied immediately. Tony stared at the surrounding traffic for a long moment.

"You mean…the humongous one that takes like 30 people to move?" Tony asked. After a period of silence Tony continued. "Well…I'll say one thing for you J, at least you think big. Eh, I'm sure we can manage something." Tony finished with a shrug and a grin just thinking about it.

"I'm glad to hear it." JARVIS said as straight-faced as an A.I. without a face could sound.

"Anything for you man." Tony replied feelingly.

(1.9m)abny

Tony leaned back in his black leather chair aboard his private jet. Blue tinged holograms surrounded him. He folded his hands on his knees as he watched the show play out in front of him. "Fury, how did Aldrich Killian fail us so miserably?" Mary Cooper asked, her voice cold and clinical. Tiberius' opinion chimed in roughly.

"I told you Tones was a sneaky bastard." Tiberius said.

"You think Tony Stark's behind this?" Fury asked.

"It wouldn't surprise me at all Director, all the WSC funds having been mysteriously deposited into the charity fund for rebuilding New York? Yeah that sounds just like him." Tiberius finished with a grimace. Tony smiled to himself. As much as he liked hearing people talk about him, he wanted to get this over with. He hacked Fury's feed and replaced it with his own charming visage, appearing on all of the WSC's screens. The faces in front of him looked up at him in shock for a moment before talking over each other angrily. The loudest voice demanded his attention.

"How did you interrupt this conference?" Yuki Toshiro asked angrily.

"With ease, now let's see, careers, reputations, and bank accounts all ruined. Sucks to be in the evil league of evil, now doesn't it?" Tony asked rhetorically.

"So you _were_ behind all of this." Tiberius stated, his face tight with rage. Tony put folded his hands behind his head and propped his feet up.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Ty." Tony said nonchalantly. Tiberius snarled.

"You are such a dick." Tiberius Stone said. Tony wagged his finger.

"Un uh. Pot. Kettle. Black. Says one of the bastards who tried to kill millions in New York not to mention fund an organization like AIM, all just to get to me." Tony said.

"Narcissist, now I see it, we did read your file after all. AIM was not just about you, they were doing important pivotal work for the betterment of the world." Gregorio Matigo said, his accent thick. Tony lowered his head.

"The greater good…" Tony chanted, trailing off.

"Exactly." Grogorio said. Tony snorted.

"Humph. Yeah we all know where that leads, hail Hitler." Tony said.

"You've no imagination Stark." Tiberius Stone accused. Tony took his arms down and folded them over his stomach.

"I invent shit, you destroy shit, I pretty sure I could tell you which of us has less imagination here." Tony said. He shrugged his shoulders. "So how do you want this to go down? You wanna break up what's left of your creepy club on your own or do you want me to do it for you?" Tony threatened. Mary Cooper sat up in her chair.

"You can't touch us! We know you destroyed all your suits!" She screamed almost hysterically. Obviously the loss of her funds had thrown her for a loop. Tony smiled indifferently at the woman.

"I am Iron Man with or without the suit." Tony said, liking the way that sounded.

"You seem rather useless without it to me." Yuki Toshiro said. Tony laughed scathingly.

"Yeah, but that's the misconception, you see the armor the bells and whistles, the general awesome shininess and ya think it's all there just to protect weak little me, like a turtle in a shell. What you fail to realize is that I'm more of a threat to you with out the suit. After I'm done with you, you'll wish I had used the armor instead. I can wipe your identities from the map if I wanted; reveal to the world all the little secrets I've found out about each of you and air out your entire Council's dirty laundry as well. I don't think the world would look kindly on any of you, do you? You've been a very naughty Council." Tony said. The Council looked on him in horror.

"And what is it you want Stark?" Gregorio Matigo asked slowly.

"I already told you. I want you to stop playing God and I want you to leave the Avengers and SHEILD to their own devices." Tony said.

"There's a reason we control things Stark. Whether you agree with our methods or not, we keep order in the world." Tiberius rumbled.

"Well its time for a new order. Now step down, or be squished." Tony said. The Council was silent for a full minute as they tried to stare him down, each in their own way. Mary Cooper was the first to crack.

"I'm done." She said.

"Me as well." Matigo agreed grimly.

"I am out of this." Toshiro said.

"You win Stark, enjoy your victory, hollow as it is." Tiberius said as he glared.

"Enjoy scraping what's left of your credit scores, criminal records, and pennies from the bottom of your collective piggy banks. Happy trails!" Tony responded with an insolent wave.

"You'll pay for this!" Cooper snapped her lip curling in a snarl. Tony tisked.

"Ick, _cliché_. Yeah and good luck with that." Tony said and then blacked out all the hologram screens, ending the conference except for Fury's end.

Fury spoke up suddenly in the sudden silence having heard the entire conversation and seen the powerful World Security Council utterly destroyed in a matter of minutes.

"We need to talk, in person." Fury said.

"I'll be in New York tomorrow, my schedule's open, set a time." Tony replied.

(1.9m)abny

Tony met with Fury at the New York City SHEILD location, cleverly disguised beneath an abandoned Borders bookstore. He drove his silver convertible V8 inside the underground car park next door and entered through a side door with a key code. The doors opened immediately into a sterile and sedate lobby. A bespectacled beauty of a brunette sat behind the wide desk typing on a laptop. Tony approached and asked without preamble. "Where's Fury?" The brunette raised her head in her own time and asked with a polite arch of her brows over her glasses.

"Who Sir?" She asked. Of course this being a secret origination of secrets, the secretary did not have a nametag. So in his head he dubbed her with uptight brunette.

"You know who I mean and who I am, just cut the red tape already and send me through." Tony demanded impatiently. The uptight brunette looked up at him with a convincingly blank stare.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean sir. Might I enquire if you have an appointment?" She asked blandly.

"I'm sure you might. Just point me in Fury's direction, ah forget it." Tony tapped his earpiece. "JARVIS, which way?" He asked.

"Take the lift Sir, fifth floor down. Last door on the left." JARVIS said as he started walking towards the elevator. The uptight brunette looked peeved but remained at her desk.

"Sir, I suggest you wait for an agent to escort you as you will need level 7 clearance in order to use that elevator." She said.

"It's cute that you think that." Tony called back to her as he got in the elevator and had JARVIS force it to take him to the correct floor. He arrived at the door and entered without knocking.

"Fury long time, no see?" Tony joked, taking a seat in front of Fury's desk.

"Stark, ever heard of protocol?" Fury asked with a glare over his folded hands.

"Nope, what's that? Anyways, I took care of the WSC problem, now they're off both our asses." Tony said, taking a pen off Fury's desk and twirling it. Proving that he was not afraid to touch Fury's things without asking.

"And I suppose you want a pat on the head for that?" Fury said condescendingly. Tony looked up at him, stopping his pen fiddling.

"They were a corrupt bunch of power mad crazies! They've been causing more deaths than Loki ever did!" Tony declared.

"And your point?" Fury said with an eyebrow arched over his eye.

"My point is I expected a little gratitude for taking those bastards out of the game!" Tony yelled.

"Good boy. Happy now?" Fury asked mockingly. Tony stuffed the pain at the words deeply inside himself. He knew it had been a bad idea to talk to Fury again. He hadn't even seen the man since the debriefing incident. Luckily not having to run into him when he did the Helicarrier upgrades weeks ago.

"I thought you were the one who wanted to talk?" Tony said quietly.

"I did." Fury admitted. "But not about the council, well not precisely about them." He finished. Tony looked at him considering.

"Then what precisely?" Tony asked.

"Now that the Council been cut out of the picture there has been a power vacuum taking up its place." Fury explained. Tony thought about that for a moment and then leaned forward.

"A vacuum you intend to fill I assume." Tony said. Fury nods. Tony's eyes widened at the implications. "You can't be serious, you want to be the next Council of Doom? And you don't think that's a bad idea- Wait. You knew about this didn't you? You used me as a cat's paw to get rid of the Council for you. It's what you wanted all along!" Tony said, appalled.

"And for a self admitted genius, you were surprisingly easy to manipulate into doing just that." Fury said. He got up and began pacing his office. "Didn't it occur to you to wonder at how easy it was to keep your nosy A.I. buried in our systems? Didn't you find it at all suspicious that I had cameras set up in my own private office? This is a secret organization after all."

"If all this is true, if I've been set up since the beginning. They why are you telling me all this? What exactly are your plans Fury?" Tony asked, hurt and anger boiling in his stomach.

"My plans are none of your business. However I am telling you because now that the WSC has been dealt with, you can engage again with the Avengers."

"Engage?" Tony asked pointedly.

"They've separated, been scattered around the world and beyond it, I want you to bring them together. As they _will_ be needed again." Fury declared.

"Know something I don't?" Tony asked.

"The world's getting stranger, the WSC was more a hindrance than you knew, the Earth needs to be prepared for the next fight. And mark my words there will be a next fight. But we need the Avengers, and you are the only one who could bring them together." Fury stated.

"Why me?" Tony asked.

"You've got the space, the pushiness, and the location. And don't think I didn't know that this is what you wanted. I'm aware of the renovations you've got underway in that tower of yours. You were going to do this anyway." Fury said, taking his seat behind his desk once more. Tony narrowed his eyes.

"Maybe so, but why the rush?" Tony asked.

"I'm sick of hearing Barton crawling through my walls and stealing from the vending machines. It's like living with a fucking raccoon." Fury said, annoyance tingeing his voice.

"And what else?" Tony asked.

"What do you mean what else?"

"A rodent infestation can't be your only reasoning. Stop fucking toying with me, and tell me what else is there!?" Tony demanded. Fury smiled for the first time since Tony entered the office and it was completely without humor.

"You're learning. Alright, I'll tell you, better yet I'll show you." Fury said, leaving his office and gesturing Tony to follow him down to the eighth floor.

He left the New York SHEILD office two hours latter. Tony's heart was far heavier than when he'd entered, the ache of his recent surgery aside, his mind trying to work out the solutions to a very complex problem. It turns out that Fury was right. The Avengers needed to be brought together and be on hand. Because this foe, was something he couldn't fight, not alone. And he had to keep its existence a secret. He sucked at keeping secrets. But for now it was necessary, Fury had convinced him of that; they were in for a long game. Unfortunately he couldn't help but feel that even with all the Avengers combined they still might not be enough to win. But he would work to try to bring them all together again. Tony tried not to smile at the prospect. After all he shouldn't be happy that the world was going to burn, whatever the perks.

(2.1m)abny

"Um…yeah, pretty sure that this is a bad idea actually, a really, really bad idea." Dr. Bruce Banner insisted yet again. He held his arms stiffly at his sides, the black boxing gloves hiding the clenching and unclenching of his fists. He wasn't angry, well no more than usual, but he _was_ frustrated.

"What are you even talking about? You totally need to let loose big guy, and I could use the practice, I need to get back in shape, since the operation you know? I'm back in the saddle baby, lets go, I'm ready, I'm ready, I do not watch SpongeBob, yep totally don't, that's my line and I'm sticking to it." Tony Stark, snark extraordinaire danced back and forth on his side of the boxing ring, his nervous energy barely restrained, almost contagious. Bruce resisted the contagion as he shook his head, his newly cut hair not flopping around for once. He wore jeans and a plain button up white shirt. Tony wore a ragged Iron Maiden black hoodie, sweats and red gloves. Bruce hadn't been around Tony Stark all that long, but he could already tell that when it came to fashion, in spite of his money, the man preferred to slum it whenever possible. He tried not to think too hard about the reasons why he'd seen Tony so seldom over the last couple of months. Of course, he had been occupied with that whole Extremis thing, and Bruce had been busy also, working in the new lab Stark had lent him, he worked on finding cures for some of the diseases he had discovered in his wanderings but hadn't had the ability or tech to do more than treat the symptoms. It was good work and while he was not necessarily happy, he was pleased. The Other guy hadn't made a peep since The Battle, luckily. He was so not looking forward to breaking Manhattan, it had been broken enough as it was.

He starred at the perplexing man across from him. Tony Stark, weaving back and forth across the ring, shadow boxing with himself. Almost directly after inviting Bruce to stay at his tower, which was still being refurbished, he'd swanned off to Malibu for two months. At the time he'd claimed he didn't like the harsh winters in the City. Bruce didn't know if that was true or not, it was difficult to tell when Stark was lying or just not saying the whole truth. After he'd left, they'd communicated by Skype occasionally, Stark asking how he was, if he was enjoying the new lab, the accommodations, the record snowfalls, which he was, maybe not the snow but everything else, immensely so.

Over the years he'd become accustomed to sleeping with the dirt, bugs and various elements, always hiding, always on the run, never safe. Just sleeping in a bed had become a privilege, and he was grateful, of course he was, but he had imagined from Tony's invitation that the billionaire would be there with him, watching, monitoring, studying his every move. Instead after Tony's sudden collapse and recovery, he'd been abandoned to his own devises. He'd walked out of the building a few times just to see if he could, _as if anyone could stop him_, but no one even tried, and no one followed him, he'd know if they had. It seemed Fury was as good as his word. He was in the wind; he could leave whenever he wished, go wherever he wished. But he stayed, he stayed because he was a scientist first and foremost _and_ he grudgingly admitted the lab _was_ nice, plus he was curious. He couldn't figure out why the billionaire had bothered inviting him in the first place. He had thought it might have been to collect him, contain him, to add him as an asset, and shiny new plaything to Stark Industries, maybe even to experiment on him. But he had seen no sign of these things. Surely if he wanted him here just because the man wanted to talk science, as he put it, with someone who could speak his language, he could have found someone else to do so with, someone far, far safer. Reed Richards for instance. So why, why did he want _him_ here of all people? He could not for the life of him figure it out. And the strangest thing of all, the man was not afraid of him, he knew that in his bones, he was much too acquainted with fear not to know its signs. He could admit in the quiet of his own mind that the lack of fear _intrigued_ him and made the anger he always held on to lessen a tad, the roar lessening to a questioning rumble. Tony Stark was an enigma wrapped in a pretzel, with extra sprinkles on top. _He'd been hanging out with the billionaire for far too long if his speech patterns were starting to rub off on him._ He could feel the alarm starting to ring in his ears. _Time to go Banner, time to run..._ He squashed it down viciously.

Now that Tony's Malibu house had been destroyed, he'd flown back to Manhattan to live in the tower's upper floors with him. It was a little awkward, more than a little awkward if he was honest. Tony gave eccentricity new meanings; he worked odd hours in his workshop, hardly ate meals with him, talked at supersonic speeds constantly, and strangest of all, acted like they were the best of friends, just like he had after the battle for New York. Stark had only installed himself in the tower barely a week ago and already they'd had two minor explosions, the last of which necessitated Bruce to get a haircut to even out his burnt hair, he was surprised the Other Guy hadn't shown up, Tony was, predictably, disappointed. They had also had several 'therapy' sessions. Which he was pretty sure was just a put on by Tony to mess with his head. Needless to say, it worked. Bruce noticed Tony slug one of his thick green health drinks before he began stretching on the rubber ropes, limbering up for their fight. Bruce tried once again to change Tony's mind about trying to box with him.

"Yeah, letting loose, not actually a good thing for me, you know that." Bruce said. Tony stilled himself for a moment and cocked his head at him.

"All I know is that you're going to learn how to box, and I'm going to get some exercise, win-win for all concerned, yay!" Stark said as he punched the air. Bruce moved back to the edge of the ring and put his hands behind him on the rope, trying to figure out how he got talked into getting into the ring in the first place, he was pretty sure it was some form of Tony-hypnotism, which he had become familiar with during the past week, and was probably why he had accepted his invitation to come live here in the first place.

"This is definitely not win-win. Why would I want to learn how to box, the Other Guy can beat to a pulp anything…or anyone he comes across." Bruce said sadly.

"Puny Gods included." Stark added with a cheeky grin. Bruce refused to smile in return, even though he had watched JARVIS' recording of Hulk beating Loki into the floor with amusement. "Still, learning new things, totally a good thing, and it will be fun, you need fun, lots and lots of fun, and blueberries." Stark said quickly, his words jumping over themselves to abandon his mouth. Bruce glanced over.

"Blueberries?" He asked, and then shook his head again. "Never mind, I don't really want to know, how about I go back to the lab, and you can test out that new punching bag you designed for Rogers' instead." Stark moved up to him and put his glove on his shoulder. Bruce tried not to flinch, not used to people casually touching him. Only Tony would dare to touch him like that without the slightest hesitation. It was just another thing about Tony Stark that made him unique. Tony's lighthearted voice slowly turned serious as he spoke.

"First of all I didn't make them for Cap, though I have to wonder about his penchant for ripping the poor defenseless bags apart, I mean what did they do to him? Anyways, Fury bitched that SHEILD was going into financial ruin trying to replace a ridiculous amount of the damned things and insisted I solve the problem. Who knew he was such a drama queen? Oh yeah, I _totally_ did. And finally, secondly, no way buddy, you've been hiding out in that lab for the past two months, you need some air, your looking a little..."

"Green?" Bruce supplied with a wince.

"Pale, I was going to say pale, smart guy." Tony said with his trademarked smile while thumping his arm with a glove for good measure.

"I wasn't hiding, I was working, important time-sensitive work that I really should be getting back to, and we are still inside Stark Tower, so how much air am I really getting?" Bruce pointed out obstinately. The boxing ring was located on the 80th floor.

"Its _Avenger_ Tower, you did notice the giant A on the building right? And its _different_ air, and all of it in the tower is circulated and pumped fresh from the roof, lots and lots of large vents, do you think Clint likes vents? I think he likes vents, seems like a venty kind of guy." Bruce was confused by the non sequitur.

"Clint?" Bruce asked wondering who that was and why he would like vents of all things.

"Yeah, also called Hawkeye, you know, the assassin with the arrows who was controlled by Loki, but is now on our side and may or may not have a thing with Black Widow, I'm leaning toward may, but I am currently taking bets." Tony supplied the name of the Avenger who had fought with them. He then rubbed a hand through his hair, mussing up his already mussed hair, his eyes unmistakably shadowed underneath as he continued. "Anyways its 32 percent cleaner than the _outside_ air actually, totally smog free-but that isn't the point, stop distracting me, and don't think I don't know that that is what you were doing. Now come on put up your dukes." Tony moved away and raised his arms in a traditional boxer's stance. Bruce gave it one more shot.

"Say you hit me, I go…green, then what?" He asked tentatively. Tony sighed dramatically.

"Jarvis?" He asked, his eyes staring in the middle distance. The A.I.'s voice appeared from thin air. Bruce was long used to Jarvis after having been around him for the past months. He didn't startle as the dry British voice answered Tony's question.

"Yes sir, I've got the prototype Mark 43 ready to deploy in case the Hulk needs to be engaged." Tony nodded, his point proven.

"There you see? If anything happens, I'll just put Hulk through his paces and test out my totally awesome new suit at the same time, two birds, and one mighty stone. You do know that he saved my life though right, like twice, and…New York?" Tony asked. Bruce never remembered much of what happened when he was the Other Guy, but he found it hard to believe that the monster had been that helpful, despite the evidence to the contrary. But he was a scientist and empirical evidence was his bible, so he supposed the Other Guy _had_ been useful for once. But that wasn't to say that he wouldn't go wild the next time he emerged.

"So you say." Bruce said sighing.

"I was there. I know what happened, and you have hundreds of shaky phone vids on YouTube to prove it. Hulk is not a monster, not really, and neither are you." Tony said earnestly, seeming to read his mind as his brown eyes tried to burrow into his. Bruce looked aside uncomfortably as he pointed down at the boxing ring with his glove.

"Whatever you say. But this, this is a bad idea, Tony." He said.

"Well Brucie, just so you know for future reference and all, me having bad ideas, not a new thing. Alrighty then Jarv play some awesome fighty tunes for our epic battle." Eye Of The Tiger began blaring out over the speakers. Tony looked up in horror. "Oh no, no, no, Jarvis, don't you dare! We do not do Rocky clichés, hell no, fix it!" The song ended abruptly and then ACDC's TNT began playing and Tony flashed a smile and readied his fists. "That's _much_ better, ready or not, here I come. Aaand yeah I'm never saying that again." Tony finished with a wide grin as he danced up to him and threw a fast punch with his right glove. Bruce dodged the hit falling back into the rope.

"Slowly!" Bruce shouted over the music, hoping he didn't suddenly see green. Tony backed up a bit.

"Slow as paste. Just remember, keep your arms up, and it's all about the footwork." Tony said as he moved his feet to show how it was done, and stumbled slightly. Tony shook his head at himself and pretended nothing had happened resuming his fighting stance.

"Perhaps Dr. Banner would benefit from having a professional coach him in the ways of boxing." Jarvis suddenly spoke up, his voice displaying the same acerbity as his creator.

"Awe, Jarvis, I'm hurt, I am professional-ish enough-ish." Tony said, smiling. "Anyways Bruce thinks I'm cool don't ya Bruce?" He said while looking at Banner mock hopefully.

"Yeah, coolest guy ever." Bruce said rolling his eyes.

"Sarcasm does not suit you, and you need to work on better comebacks." Tony said right before he threw another jab, that Bruce failed to block. The blow hit his chest, hard, but not hard enough to hurt. Bruce looked up; surprised that Tony had actually hit him.

"Hey!" Bruce said clutching at his chest. Tony ignored him and danced back a step, grinning.

"Foot work! Float like a butterfly, sting like a non-extinct bee." Tony sing-songed at him.

"I thought, um, that guy, uh, Happy was your go to guy for boxing. Didn't you tell me that?" Bruce questioned haltingly while moving over to the other side of the ring, keeping his arms up in case Tony went for him again. Tony's smile abruptly faltered and then resumed.

"Yeah. He's with Pep down in Cali., all ship and shape from his run in with a human bomb. Can't bring him up here every time I want to go for a round though can I? Well I can, but I won't…probably. Anyways come on, throw a punch, and don't pull it either, you know I'm not." Banner signed, resigned.

"That's part of the problem…"

JARVIS observed the playful match and banter between his creator and the man Sir had invited wholeheartedly into his house and life. He'd rarely seen Sir so happy in the company of another human, the exception of course, being Ms. Potts and Col. Rhodes. JARVIS had been gifted with the ability to work through complex problems, and come to his own conclusions. He thought that this positive human interaction would be good for Sir. He had spent a lot of time observing Dr. Banner and found him intelligent and agreeable. But the man seemed not to understand Sir, like so many others. JARVIS rescanned both of the men again, reassuring himself that Dr. Banner's alter ego would not soon make an appearance, and studying the strain measured in Sir's body. He was still recovering from the surgery; the removal of shrapnel and the majority of the arc reactor still healing and straining his body. He had cautioned against Sir being this physically active so soon. Sir had unsurprisingly, disagreed, which was why all he could do for him was observe his statistics and hope to persuade him to rest tonight. Sir had not slept for 34 hours, 43 minutes. It was not unusual, but Sir was still recovering. Therefore JARVIS would watch and wait, and hope that Dr. Banner would be a help to Sir's physical and mental wellbeing.

(2.1m)abny

Clint noticed a paper magically being slipped through a slit in the screen in front of him. He crawled forward silently and picked it up, finding it to be a letter. He squinted at the envelope by the faint light coming through the screen and read.

Dear Agent Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye

The ventilation system in the SHEILD Helicarrier

Airspace of Long Island

Barton shook his head bemusedly, noticing the giant red wax seal with the imprint of a hawk and opened the letter. Catching a keycard as it slipped out. He glanced at it for a moment before reading the letter typed on crisp expensive paper.

Dear, Hawkeye

You are cordially invited to live at Avenger Tower located in Manhattan, New York, floor 85. Feel free to bring any belongings you wish. If you have any accommodation requirements or questions feel free to forward them to the above address. We sincerely await your arrival.

P.S. I have way better snacks than a SHIELD vending machine.

Truly Yours, Tony Stark


	4. Chapter 4

(2.1m)abny

Bruce Banner stumbled after an overly excited Tony Stark to the penthouse's elevator. Not for the first time, Bruce wondered if the man had ever heard of the phrase, decent night's sleep. Even living rough, Bruce still managed to get his eight. Provided no one was chasing after him that is. Still, being awoken by a bright-eyed Tony Stark at 5am after getting to bed just after 1am was messing with his rhythms. He recalled Tony bending over him in the dim room, waking him abruptly, which was so very not helpful for various reasons. "Hey Brucie, buddy, you've got to see this, It's finally finished!" Bruce blinked up at Tony's face, struggling out of his nightmares.

"Wha-, Tony?" Tony tapped his nose annoyingly.

"Come on, wakey wakey, you are going to love this!" Bruce swiped Tony's hand away and rubbed his face.

"What time is it?" Bruce asked tiredly.

"It is 4:13am Dr. Banner." The A.I.'s voice replied.

"Thank you JARVIS." Bruce said. Tony gripped his arm and pulled.

"Come on Bruce." Tony insisted. Bruce winced at Tony's eagerness this early in the morning.

"Ok Tony, ok, I'm coming." Tony resisted making the obvious joke as he led Bruce in his PJ's to his awesome surprise. Bruce sighed and let himself be pulled along behind Tony, he'd almost think the genius was on something, except from what he'd seen of him; he was _always_ like this. Jumping around like an ADD squirrel on crack, a bit like that Ice Age rodent actually. Tony hummed the song Black Betty under his breath as he drummed on the railings behind him on the elevator. The doors abruptly opened after traveling down for a few minutes, and Bruce followed the enthusiastic billionaire down a very wide and tall hallway leading to a huge reinforced door. Tony explained that a hybrid mixture of vibranium and adamantium bolstered this entire floor; creating a new alloy that he had taken to calling starkanium. Tony smirked and pointed to a scanner in the door.

"Alright place your hand right here." Bruce had a seeking feeling that he knew what was going on. It was only a matter of time after all, before Stark began treating him like the monster he was. Bruce with a heavy heart placed his hand on the door. Which sprung open at his touch having scanned the unique veins in his hand and the blood pumping through them. The smell of fresh paint and lacquer struck him first. Then he saw the rest of the room. It was a huge open space, everything from the solid looking couches, to the tables, the fridge, and flat screens were oversized. There were large doors leading to other parts of the floor. A giant piñata Jack Sparrow with an eye patch hung in a corner, swinging gently. Soft lighting lit up the incredibly plush carpeting. A line of thick reinforced windows overlooked the city on opposite sides of the room. Tony moved closer to him tracking the shifting expressions on his face. "So what do you think? You haven't even seen the bedroom, and there's a pool too!" Bruce shook his head slowly.

"I've lived here for over two months and I never noticed this being built." Bruce said faintly. Tony smiled brightly.

"I know, I used ninja builders, well not actual ninja builders but they _are_ quiet. I can still change whatever either of you want or anything, I mean yeah I used a brick motif for the paint job, that might have been a bad choice, but we could go with any colors you want, or any furnishings-" Bruce interrupted Tony's babbling.

"Tony, stop." Tony stopped his shoulders drooping at his tone.

"What?" Tony asked in a small voice. Bruce wrapped his arms around himself, trying to keep the other guy in.

"It's, it's a nice _cage_ Tony." Bruce spoke in a strangled voice. Tony eyes locked on him.

"A what? A cage?" Tony asked incredulous. Bruce backed away, trying to hold himself together. Sickened that he had been right all along. Tony Stark was the same as everyone else. _No different than Ross_.

"I'm done, I'm going to go pack my things." Bruce said calmly, turning to go back to the penthouse. Tony reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Wait Bruce!" Tony yelled desperately. Bruce snapped and swung the genius into the wall and trapped him with his hands on either side of the smaller man as his eyes glowed an incandescent green.

"What!? What do you want from me!?" Bruce bellowed. Tony still didn't smell of fear, but his eyes were wide and he trembled, almost imperceptibly to any eyes but his own.

"Just hear me out kay? Please, just hear me out at least." Tony pleaded. The lack of fear was what convinced him, that and the indescribable emotion in the man's eyes that he couldn't read but it hurt him to see.

"I'm listening, but I told you, and I told Fury, I don't do cages, no matter how comfortable they are." Bruce snapped coldly as he moved back from the man and gave him some space. Tony lifted his hands, placating and then ran them through his hair.

"Ok listen, maybe I didn't think this through. But I just thought it would be cool if Hulk had a floor of his own, I mean I made you one too, you know? I'm still working on it actually, but I just thought you'd both feel better if you could let him out once in a while to just hang, ya know, and relax? He can totally mess around in here, there is even a sort of exercise slash playroom that he can jump around and smash things in if he wanted. Yeah… this was a bad idea wasn't it? I told you before that bad ideas aren't a new thing for me." Tony finished lamely. Bruce huffed a breath and calmed down a little.

"Tony, I… I know what your trying to do, but this door has a lock on it doesn't it." Bruce said sadly.

"For your safety, but Hulk can get out when ever he wants. See the scanner on this end; it would open for either Hulk or you." Tony's voice grew softer. "It's not much of a cage if you've got the key." Bruce glanced at the door and noticed the large scanner on this side, large enough for the Other Guy's hand. Bruce's eyes returned to their normal brown and he shifted uncomfortably, feeling bad about how he had acted and how close he had come to losing control.

"…Thank you, Tony. I don't know if I would ever use it, it's too dangerous. It, it wouldn't be safe, but it's…a nice thought. I'm sorry I misunderstood." Tony waved a hand dismissively, grinning.

"Don't worry about it, considering what you've been through, I probably shouldn't have sprung it on you like that, my bad." Bruce shook his head.

"No its my fault- wait- did you say you had designed me a floor as well?" Bruce asked thinking back to what Tony had said. Tony smiled tentatively.

"Well I couldn't have you sleeping on my floor forever, could I? Well I could, of course I could, but it would make me bringing bedmates over kinda awkward, unless you wanted to join in or something, which I'm totally up for by the bi, pun boldly underlined. Brains are the new sexy, oh look a new, new bumper sticker! Or maybe that's too zombie." Bruce ignored Tony's banter, and frowned.

"A whole floor for me? Tony that's too much."

"No it really isn't, I should have had it finished weeks ago, but I was busy with, you know, stuff, so I didn't have time to focus on it until now. It'll be done by Friday, unless you don't want to wait. It's just the final touches on the lab that need to be done, then it's all yours." Tony said.

"A lab? My own lab." Bruce said slowly.

"All yours to blow up at your own discretion, no more sharing with the R & D department, they were getting a bit miffed at the explosions, but they needed to be kept on their toes anyways." Tony said, smiling.

"Tony, that's, all that's wasted on me." Bruce said.

"No it isn't. You're awesome Banner, you deserve awesome things." Tony said.

"I don't, I really don't, I'm a m- murderer." _Monster_, Bruce thought. Tony gestured to himself.

"Yeah, Merchant of Death here, stones and glass houses and all. But Hulk only ever hurt people in self-defense or by accident. I can't make any such claims, yet I have tons of awesome stuff, you don't see me depriving myself." Tony said.

"Tony." Bruce said in exasperation.

"Brucie." Tony mimicked back and then shrugged. "Just accept it. I've already built it; I'd be rude to turn it down now. I have more than enough space and money to throw around anyways."

"I…Thanks Tony."

"Anytime Big Guy, anytime." Tony said and put his arm around the other man to lead them both back up to the penthouse.

After dropping Bruce off at his bedroom, Tony swiftly left for his workshop. He had JARVIS lock everything down, blacking out the windows and glass doors. As he entered he was immediately surrounded by his bots, DUM-E, Butterfingers, and new You. He patted them each on the head, taking a suspicious shake from DUM-E, and not drinking it as he headed towards the comfy couch at the end of the shop. He collapsed into it, placing the drink on the end table as he began to shake in earnest. New You brought over a ragged afghan and tossed it on his knees. JARVIS dimmed the lights and began to quietly project an old movie on the wall in front of him. Butterfingers rested his head on his knee gently; trying to offer what comfort he could, while Tony quietly shook. JARVIS didn't ask what was wrong, he knew. Tony curled himself on his side, staring at Basil Rathbone acting like a German bookseller. The black and white flickering of the familiar slowly calmed him; he shut his eyes and tried to sleep. He gave up an hour later and began work on a portable container for the Mark 43, the blue holos and his bots surrounding him as he clutched the blanket to himself.

(2.2m)abny

Clint Barton didn't know what to think about the offer he had gotten from Stark. He'd approached Fury with the letter a few days later, thinking it was some kind of joke. He had been promptly informed to get the fuck off this fucking ship and get his ass over to the Tower like yesterday. Barton didn't argue. He left a coded message for Natasha, who he hadn't seen in almost two months, packed his few things in a duffel and was dropped off at Manhattan by Agent Sitwell. Sitwell was one of the few agents who hadn't treated him differently since the whole Loki incident. After landing Sitwell turned in his seat and shook hands with him, gripping his wrist. "Good luck to you."

"I'm sure I'll need all the luck I can get. Thanks though." He said sincerely. Sitwell nodded and Barton left the quinjet. Sitwell strongly reminded him of Coulson, he was much more than he seemed, and a good agent. Barton was glad that he had survived the invasion. He slung his duffle over his shoulder and headed for the most ostentatious building in Manhattan, semi hoping that this was all a sick joke after all. He was not looking forward to living on Stark's dime for who knew what reasons, but he hated being in the Helicarrier even more, useless, grounded from missions, avoiding everyone, but still feeling their loathing like a collective fist to the gut. It had all taken a turn for the worse since Natasha had left for her mysterious mission. Living with Stark couldn't be worse than all that. It just couldn't.


	5. Chapter 5

(2.2m)abny

Tony prodded at an Erienmeyer flask that rested on a steel table, cooling in Bruce's new state of the art, made just for him, lab. Bruce sat next to him with a small smile on his face as he entered in measurements into his Starkpro laptop. "Sirs, Agent Barton of SHIELD is currently loitering in the lobby." JARVIS said. Bruce looked up in relative alarm as Tony muttered to himself.

"Took him long enough, Fury must have set a fire under his ass." In a more audible tone, Tony said, "Send him on up, J." Bruce transferred his alarming gaze to Tony.

"Yes, sir." JARVIS answered. Tony met Bruce's concerned eyes with his own calm ones.

"You wanna greet him with me, Bruce?" Bruce tilted his head ponderingly.

"You invited him here?" Bruce asked. Tony looked momentarily confused.

"Of course I did, why-" Tony checked himself realizing what Bruce's problem was. "He's not here for you, Bruce, you're safe here; you do know that right?" Tony asked him worriedly.

"…Yeah. I know that." Bruce hesitantly replied. Bruce wasn't sure if he was trying to convince Tony of that or himself. Tony pretended he hadn't heard the hesitation.

"As he is an Avenger and this is Avenger Tower and all, and he was basically homeless, unless you count the vents at SHIELD a home, I invited him to live here. I probably should have given you more of a heads up. Anyways do you want to come say Hi?" Tony asked almost skipping on his way out of the lab. Bruce lowered his eyes to the laptop in front of him.

"I'll just stay up here, lots of Science to do..." Bruce trailed off. Tony nodded.

"Well I'm more than enough of a welcome wagon for anyone and as excuses go, Science is a good one, the best one actually." Bruce smiled weakly at him. Tony grinned back. "At least you're enjoying the new lab." Tony added, gesturing at the science bubbling all around them. Bruce smiled more openly.

"It's a very nice lab Tony, very nice, thank you. This entire floor is beyond breath taking. I can't imagine how much this all must have cost or how much effort it must have taken." Bruce finished, embarrassed.

"I told you, don't worry about it, I'll see you later kay?" Tony said airily turning to leave the lab through the sliding doors.

"See you, Tony." Bruce said quietly before returning to his work and trying not to focus on how nervous he was about the idea of living cheek to jowl with a government agent.

Tony Stark met Clint Barton at the entrance to the elevator on Bruce's floor. He entered the elevator, which immediately closed and began heading back down to Clint's new floor. The agent's eyes were even more shadowed and weary than the last time he had seen him. The fellow looked paler and seemed to have lost some weight as well. Barton wore a solid black T with an unbuttoned blue jean jacket and black jeans. He carried a large green duffle behind one shoulder. "Hey Barton!" Tony greeted him enthusiastically with a wave almost in his face.

"Stark." Barton greeted back with a cautious nod. The elevator opened and Tony exited with Clint following. Tony gestured at the common room in front of them and pointed in various directions.

"Welcome to Avenger Tower, whopping willow that way, sorting hat this way, and watch out for the staircases, they like to move." Tony concluded seriously. Barton rolled his eyes.

"Right…" Clint said. Tony turned back and his eyes rested on the duffle behind his back.

"So…do you have movers coming by with the rest of your stuff?" Stark asked. Clint shifted his bundle awkwardly.

"This is it." He said. Tony stared.

"Just a duffle?" Tony asked, incredulous. Clint glared defensively.

"Yeah, is that a problem Stark?" He growled. Tony shrugged nonchalantly and smirked.

"Still touchy I see. Not a problem, no, just kinda sad. So where's your bow, Loxley, I figured you even showered with that thing." Tony said, leaning to look behind Clint's shoulder, wondering if it could fit in that duffle of his somehow. Clint's expression if anything darkened further.

"It was confiscated." He said stiffly. Stark's mouth opened, momentarily shocked into silence, and then snapped closed.

"Oh. Loki. Right. Well that's just stupid." Tony said. Clint snorted.

"Tell that to the quacks at SHIELD psych." Barton said. Tony nodded.

"Maybe I will." Clint walked further into the flat, eyes cataloguing every detail, automatically searching out all possible entrances, exits, and defensible positions.

"Which is my room?" Barton questioned.

"Uhhh, all of them?" Tony said. Barton spun around swiftly.

"All of them? You mean this _whole_ floor?" He asked.

"Yeah. Is that a problem Barton?" Tony retorted, throwing his previous words back at him. Barton's eyes narrowed.

"Why?" Hawkeye asked. Tony folded his arms in front of himself.

"What do you mean why?" Barton gestured sharply at the well-appointed apartment around them.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked. Tony shrugged.

"Fury was sick of you living in his walls, it was driving him nuts." Barton nodded slowly.

"So Fury ordered you to lodge me here?" Tony laughed.

"Ha, I'd like to see him try, don't you know your third amendment? I thought you were a government agent, tsk, tsk. Anyways, Fury asked, and I said, what the hell." Tony said. Barton thought for a second and then nodded once more, his eyes clearing.

"Ah, I see now." Tony frowned momentarily and then pulled out his flashbulb grin.

"You do? Well great, fantastic, so should I make room for Widow in here or what?" He asked with a leer. Barton ignored the look.

"Black Widow? She'll be living here too?" He queried.

"Yeah, but I wasn't sure if you two would be sharing a bed or-"

"_Don't_ finish that sentence if you like breathing." Barton interrupted, his face cold and emotionless. Tony hid his shudder and brought out his snark as he backed away toward the elevator.

"Breathing _is_ nice. Sooo separate floors then, got it, well, I'm sure you can finish the rest of the tour on your own. I've got stuff to be doing, serious stuff, time-sensitive, important…stuff; I'll see you around. Adios." Tony said with a wave as he backed inside his elevator and it slid closed in front of him. Tony sunk to the floor and sat against the wall as the elevator rose back up to his workshop. "Maybe I'm making a mistake J. I don't think I can bring these people together. Bruce is a self-loathing shut-in, who just does not see how awesome he is. Barton is totally unstable, even _I_ can see that, and what does that tell you? Widow scares the life out of me. Captain America is still a self-righteous dick, who thinks Howard's a god. Thor, an actual god, is an alien who lives in another fucking world. And I'm the most fucked up of all. There is no way this is going to work. Why did I think this could work?" Tony had his knees pulled up to his chest as he gripped his head in his hands.

"Sir! I believe in you. I believe that you can do this." JARVIS insisted, his tone as warm as he could make it. Tony raised his head, and looked towards the eye cam in the wall beside him.

"Do you J? Really? Then how, how do I do this?" Tony asked desperately.

"Don't give up, do what you always do Sir, keep fighting. You'll figure it out, you always do." JARVIS responded calmly. Tony took that in and smiled. At least one person would never give up on him, even if that person didn't actually posses a body.

"…You're right, J. You always are. I'm Tony _fucking_ Stark. It's time I started acting like it."

"Yes, Sir." JARVIS, agreed happily.

(2.2m)abny

"Bruuuce, lets have dinner." Tony pled, eyes wide and begging. Bruce looked up from the article he was reading, glasses sliding down his nose. He pushed them up and shrugged, smiling at Tony's expression.

"Sure, what do you want?" Tony rolled his eyes and flopped down on the couch beside him.

"Uh, food, duh." Tony said.

"What kind of food?" Banner asked, exasperated.

"The edible kind." Tony replied snippily. Bruce put down the scientific journal and fiddled with his glasses.

"Okaay, how about something homemade?" Bruce suggested nervously.

"You can cook?" Tony asked.

"…Yes." Bruce responded warily. Tony groaned dramatically.

"Why didn't you tell me Brucie, why would you keep that from me, I thought we were science bros, how could you!?" Bruce shied away from Tony's overloud voice.

"Ugh, so how about I make…something?" Tony nodded earnestly and grasped his shoulder.

"Yes, make it now, what do you need, we could go on a shopping trip, or ask JARVIS to get supplies delivered. Whatever you want Bruciebear, name it. Just FEED me!" He finished Little Shop Of Horror style. Bruce for once didn't mini-flinch away from Stark's hand on him. Tony took that as a win.

"Um…I'd like to go out and get the ingredients, if you don't mind?" Bruce asked tentatively.

"Of course I don't mind. Why would I mind? Let's go, I'll get the Jag ready."

"Alright, sounds good." Bruce said as Tony almost ran to the parking garage. Bruce leaving the Tower counted as another win. Tony hoped he could earn some more wins before the day was out, like Bruce talking to another person besides himself or JARVIS. Neither he nor Bruce had seen any sign of the archer since he had moved in yesterday. However he had it on good authority, JARVIS, that the man had already found his way into the bowels of the Tower's ventilation system. He decided not to tell Bruce about that. The guy was nervous enough about having the assassin here without telling him that he was spying on them and could drop down from a grate at any time or place.

Tony drove the Jaguar up and out of the underground lot with Banner beside him. Tony wore sunglasses, a Welcome to Nightvale T-shirt and ragged jeans. Banner wore his usual, a buttoned long sleeved white shirt and slacks. As Tony drove through the streets, he stole glances at Bruce. "So where are we headed? Somewhere specific?" Bruce considered.

"Where's the nearest farmer's market?" He asked.

"Jarv?" Tony inquired. The A.I.'s voice sounded from the car's speakers.

"82nd street, Sir." Tony followed the onscreen directions.

"82nd it is then." Tony had JARVIS blare Dear Prudence in the car. As the song played, Bruce chuckled.

"Subtle, Tony, real subtle." Tony gave him a bland expression.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Jolly Rancher." Bruce's shoulders hunched in on themselves, his good mood souring.

"I get it. I've been a bit of hermit of late. But can you blame me? There are just too many people out here that I could hurt." Bruce said.

"I keep telling you. Hulk is not a danger." Tony asserted.

"I don't know how you can say that! Do you know how many people the Other Guy- I-have killed? I broke Harlem, Tony; I don't want to break Manhattan too. I destroyed almost as much property as the Chitauri did during the invasion." Bruce croaked out.

"Bruce, _Bruce_. Without you the invasion might very well have succeeded, certainly more people would have been killed, me included. Hulk is a good guy and so are you. I wish you would stop doubting that. And I've killed way more people than Hulk ever did and for worse reasons." Stark concluded with an unreadable expression, his hands tightening on the wheel. Bruce reached towards him, but didn't touch him.

"Tony?" He asked worriedly. Tony shook his head.

"Lets just get some foodstuffs, okay?" He said. Bruce turned his head to look out the window.

"Yeah." Banner agreed.

Tony had just finished Bruce's chicken and artichoke casserole with a snap pea salad. It was one of the best meals he had ever had. Tony rubbed his stomach, pushing his empty plate away. "You sir, are a god!" Bruce blushed.

"It wasn't all that special…" Bruce said.

"Are you kidding me? That was fucking ambrosia! Can you cook every day for the rest of my life, please? And I don't say please to just anyone, you know." Tony said. Bruce rubbed his hands together.

"How about some ratatouille and molten chocolate cake for tomorrow?" He asked. Tony moaned indecently as his head tilted back.

"Oh yes, yes Bruce, yes, more, oh!" Bruce ducked his head and his a smile.

"Do you know what you sound like?" Bruce asked. Tony shot up and began putting dishes into the washer.

"Your food is orgasmic Brucie, better than sex, and for me that's saying something." Bruce laughed, and Tony tried not to punch the air in delight.

"Thanks Tony." Counting the in depth conversation Bruce had had with a friendly merchant at the market about the new cubed watermelons, a grand total of four wins for the day, not bad, not bad at all.

As Tony began leaving Bruce's flat he stopped by a nearby vent and said softly, "I see you in there, Hood. If you like what you see so much, why don't you join the party, there's still some food left you know?" Tony heard a slight shuffling sound as if a body was steadily moving away and back down the shaft. Tony shrugged and continued to his own suite. He couldn't win every battle now could he? The war on the other hand, was well underway, and that he would win. He had to after all. The world depended on him getting the Avengers turned into a proper team. And he would do so; he just hoped it didn't end up being too late to matter.


	6. Chapter 6

Dr. Banner tossed and turned in his bed. He eventually arose to go fetch himself some juice before going back to work in his lab. His lab, he liked the sound of it. In fact he liked everything about his new apartment. Tony had given him everything without asking anything in return, apart from wanting him to accept the Other Guy as a part of him, as a positive part of him. Unfortunately he wasn't sure he would ever be able to give Tony that. He determined to make sure the other man had one good meal a day though; he could at least give him that. He smiled in remembered pleasure at how much Tony had appreciated his cooking. He stopped when he reached his dimly lit kitchen. A man sat at the counter picking through the leftovers of the casserole. "Uh…Hawkeye right?" The man had frozen like a deer in high beams.

"Uh…maybe?" Barton responded trying to magically melt into the counters behind him, which never works. Bruce moved further into the room.

"What are you doing in my kitchen?" Bruce asked evenly. Hawkeye looked around frantically trying to spot an exit.

"Uh…nothing?" He said guiltily, quickly putting the fork in his hand down on the counter. Bruce smiled slightly at the image of the guilt stricken assassin.

"You know if you're hungry you could have asked, instead of sneaking in my place in the dead of night to steal my cooking." Bruce said. Hawkeye tried to move past Banner.

"Yeah…sorry about that." He said. Banner walked toward the fridge to get himself the juice he wanted.

"It would taste better if you heated it up." Bruce added suddenly. Clint paused and slowly gulped.

"It probably would. Do you mind if I have some?" He asked politely. Bruce smiled slightly at him.

"Be my guest." He said.

"Thanks man." Clint said relieved as he moved back into the kitchen to begin heating up some food in the microwave.

"No problem." Bruce said. He sat at his table and poured himself a glass of cranberry juice. "So how do you like your floor?" He asked. Barton looked over hiding his nervousness.

"Its nice." He replied simply. Banner smiled at what he was sure was an understatement.

"I've actually got a reflecting pool complete with a Zen garden, bongo drums, and about a pound and a half of weed. Tony likes to go all out." Bruce finished fondly. Clint snorted.

"Yeah, I noticed. Stark likes to brag." Barton said unkindly as he took a seat across from him with a plate of casserole in hand.

"Brag?" Bruce asked carefully. Barton gestured with his hands.

"About his wealth and power. He's trying to buy us and it's just pitiful." Barton said sneering. Banner had to wrestle the Other Guy for a moment, breathing deeply.

"Buy us? You know for someone who is supposed to be good at reading people you are terrible at it." He said as calmly as he could.

"Stark tricked you man, he's a pretentious sex-obsessed asshole. _Everyone_ knows that." Barton said condescendingly. Bruce lost control for a brief moment and his eyes bled green, scaring Clint into startling backwards in his chair.

"Well I only judge people by what they do. Tony's been nothing but kind, brave, and generous since I've known him. That's the sort of man he is. I suggest you keep your biased conclusions to yourself, and judge him for his actions. By the way if you do or say anything to hurt him, I won't be held responsible for what the Other Guy does to you." Banner finished with a snarl before leaving the spy behind and heading to his lab. Clint's heart beat quickly at the near miss he had just had. Then he stared off after the retreating figure of the doctor and shook himself.

"I just got shovel talked by the Hulk. My life is ridiculous." He murmured disbelievingly to himself, before heading back up to his own floor, stealing the last of the delicious leftovers on his way out.

(2.4m)abny

Tony was binge working in his lab when the call came through. "Sir, Fury is on the line." JARVIS said. Tony winced.

"Put him through." Just hearing Nick Fury's voice stiffened his spine.

"Stark, there's an emergency at the Baxter Building get there now and bring Barton and the Hulk. You're going to need them." Fury hung up before Tony could respond. He hated when other people did that. He was supposed to have the last word. He speedily grabbed up what he was working on and ran for the elevator, having JARVIS alert the others. He stopped at Banner's floor and brought him with him up to Barton's. Clint was standing at the elevator doors agitated but suited up. Tony pulled him in.

"I'm not on active duty Stark, I don't even have a bow." Clint protested. Tony threw the bow and arrows he had been working on at him.

"There's your bow, Katniss, and you're cleared for duty." Tony said. Clint blinked at him, stunned.

"Since when? …You talked to SHIELD psych didn't you?" Clint asked in awe. Tony smirked.

"Better I stuck Pepper on them, you also got a substantial raise in salary by the way." Stark said grinning.

"This isn't my bow…" Clint said wonderingly, stroking the dark metal links that made up his new weapon.

"I made it, your last one was shit. SHIELD R&D sent me the schematics. I also upgraded your arrows. Looks like you'll have to learn how to use them on the job." Clint nodded pleased and strapped the arrows and bow behind his back.

"Fine by me. Thanks S-Tony. You're an upright guy." Clint said sincerely. Tony looked off to a corner of the elevator as Bruce smiled.

"Whatever." Tony muttered.

"How bad is it?" Bruce asked, hoping that he wouldn't be needed after all. They reached the penthouse and ran to the balcony. They could see the Baxter Building from where they stood. A large portal stretched above it, hundreds of huge purple tentacles reaching through it to wrap around the building and the Fantastic Four. Tony swallowed at the sight of the portal, trying not to have a panic attack as he stared at it.

"Bad, Bruce, really bad." Tony said feelingly closing his eyes briefly before pulling himself together. They hopped into the waiting Quinjet and flew out to meet the portal.

"There is no way that's possible." Clint whispered as they looked at the insanity before them.

"Well since we're seeing it, I'd have to say that it is fucking possible." Tony snapped with a glare at what his eyes were seeing.

"I guess you're going to need the Other Guy." Bruce said sadly.

"I guess we are." Tony agreed.

"I hope you don't regret it." Bruce said, preparing himself to change and attack the creature they were fast approaching.

"Don't you know me at all Brucie, I regret nothing." Tony said flippantly. Clint looked over at Tony in his plain clothes.

"Aren't you going to suit up?" He asked. Tony held up a flask from his pocket and an arc reactor.

"Already on it." He said. Clint looked at him skeptically.

"You're drinking at a time like this?" Tony tipped the large flask over and a shimmering powder flew out.

"I wish." Tony said, as the powder swirled around and attached to him like a load magnet and solidified into the familiar red and gold suit, the arc settling in the center of his chest as if it had never been anywhere else.

"Whoa." Clint said in admiration. Bruce had already seen the show before and had even helped him work on perfecting the replicating sand that made the armor up.

"What's the plan?" Bruce asked.

"Slap Richards for causing this, and kill the tentacle thing? Oh and rescue the Fantastic Four." Tony said mechanically behind his helmet.

"Good plan, I like it." Clint said as they reached the building's roof. Tony flew out taking Clint with him as Bruce jumped turning into the Hulk midway. The jet flew away, taking a clipping hit from a tentacle as it went. Iron Man dropped Hawkeye at the nearest safe perch and then went to blast his repulsors at the tentacle currently wrapped around the Invisible Woman and her force field bubble. Hawkeye shot at the appendages knotted around Mr. Fantastic, while the Hulk roared deafeningly and punched at the suckers attached to the Thing. The Human Torch seemed to be faring the best against the creature, although the appalling smell of burned calamari suffused the air. After freeing Susan Richards, Tony flew over to Mr. Fantastic and tried to free him as well, while avoiding the whipping tentacles himself.

"Reed, what the fuck were you thinking?!" Tony yelled, dodging a striking appendage. Reed began extricating himself from the tentacles he was holding immobile.

"Tony, I had _nothing_ to do with this!" He yelled back.

"Yeah right!" Tony said sarcastically. Reed's head stretched towards him.

"Really, was not me. This fluctuating gravitational anomaly just appeared and then this…creature started reaching through it. I have no idea how this happened." Reed said succinctly. Tony fought off a particularly clingy tentacle sweeping around him.

"Reed-" He began heatedly.

"Sir you have to see this!" JARVIS said from within his helmet. A news feed showed up in a corner of his HUD. A woman spoke fearfully with a British accent. Spaceships, portals, and a brief glimpse of a flying figure in red cape showed up behind her.

"Random portals containing alien ships and creatures are appearing over the London skies. The hero, Thor, from the alien invasion in America, currently seems to be fighting off the creatures-" Tony cut the feed and used his speakers to inform the rest of the heroes of what was up.

"Shit. Guy's we are in more trouble than we thought." Tony said.

"How is that possible?" Clint muttered casting an electrical arrow.

"What now?" The Thing asked pulling apart two tentacles at once. Hulk heaved at a huge one ripping it off from whatever it was buried in the dark of the portal. He began cheerfully whipping the detached tentacle at the other limbs.

"There are more portals appearing in London, they don't seem to be having to deal with slimy tentacles though, just regular aliens." Tony said.

"Lucky them!" The Human Torch yelled. Mr. Fantastic frowned.

"We can't spare anybody, we're strapped as it is." Reed Richards said.

"I know, Thor's on the scene, he's going to have to handle it by himself." Tony said, grimacing.

"He's a god isn't he, so I'm sure he's good." Johnny Storm said reassuringly as he flew by, flaming a flailing limb that was sneaking behind Hawkeye.

"Do you have a way to close this?" Tony huffed out. Reed contemplated the portal for a moment.

"The portal is in flux, if we increase the fluctuation…" Reed began thoughtfully.

"We could implode the portal!" Tony finished gleefully.

"Yes!" Richard's agreed excitedly. Tony smiled.

"Then lets get to it. I'll need Cap Jr. and Hawkeye, bring the firepower you two, the rest of you keep that bastard's slimy paws away from us!" Tony yelled as he reluctantly positioned himself closer to the middle of the portal and readied his unibeam.

"I'm not Cap Jr. I don't look anything like Captain fucking America!" Storm shouted angrily. Mr. Fantastic frowned at his brother-in-law.

"You heard him Johnny, go help." He said. The Torch flew off to fire his hottest flame at the void, floating next to Tony. Hawkeye found his new explosive arrows and prepared to cast them. Hulk, Thing, Mr. Fantastic, and the Invisible Woman, ran interference, preventing them from being attacked. Tony, Johnny, and Clint, released their most damaging weapons at full blast all at the same time towards the open portal. When the weapons hit, there was a large booming sound. The portal shimmered and then exploded in a wave that cut off all the tentacles waving outside it and blasted everyone from their feet. After everyone recovered they reconvened at the middle of the roof.

"Well that was some kind of awful." Hawkeye understated.

"Yep." Ben Grimm agreed simply. Hulk moved over to Tony.

"Tin man! Fight over?" Hulk asked. Tony reached up and patted Hulk's thigh.

"Yeah man, you did great!" Hulk narrowed his eyes.

"You not fall." Tony grinned.

"Can't be the damsel in distress all the time Kermit." Hulk huffed.

"I not Kermit, I Hulk."

"I know, I know you're Hulk, do you know who that is?" Tony asked pointing at Hawkeye.

"Feathers." Hulk said. Tony laughed.

"Yeah, that's Feathers." Tony couldn't wait to tell Clint, Hulk's name for him.

"Want puny Banner back?" Hulk asked. Tony looked up at his green eyes.

"Hulk, you know you can stay here for a bit if you want?" Tony asked. Hulk tilted his head the way Bruce would and considered.

"Nothing to do here, but want to fight rock man." Hulk nodded toward the Thing. Thing looked up while rubbing some slime from his body.

"Ok maybe later." Tony said quickly. Hulk grinned and began to shrink down into a tired, rumpled doctor holding up his ripped slacks awkwardly.

"Hey Banner." Tony greeted.

"Hey. Looks like we won." Bruce said, looking down at the ground littered with still moving tentacle pieces.

"Oh and look Hulk didn't hurt anyone but the bad guy-thing." Tony said.

"That's…good." Bruce said. The Thing asked Bruce if he would like to pick up some pants from his wardrobe. Bruce smiled gratefully and followed Ben into the Baxter building. Tony checked the news feeds.

"Looks like Thor's handled his end of things." He said relieved.

"Awesome." Johnny said, exhausted.

"I wonder why a portal opened up here anyways." Reed wondered aloud.

"The world may never know." Hawkeye said. Johnny rolled his eyes.

"Are you a tootsie roll pop or what?" He said.

"So anybody up for Shawarma?" Tony quired. Hawkeye stared at him.

"Are you going to ask that after every fight we have?" Barton asked.

"Maaaybe." Tony answered playfully.

"What's Shawarma?" Susan asked. Johnny Storm flopped on the ground.

"I couldn't move an inch." Johnny groaned.

"Awesomeness in a wrapper. I'll go pick some up, be back in a sec." Tony said, before flinging himself off the roof and zooming away. The others watched him leave. The Thing and Bruce came back up to the roof. Bruce decently clothed.

"So, thanks for the assist." Susan said to Banner.

"No problem." Bruce replied.

"So you're Cap Jr?" Clint asked Johnny with a smile.

"Am not!" Johnny snapped. Susan eyes gleamed mischievously.

"We've looked into the family tree, absolutely no relation whatsoever." She said. Hawkeye grinned.

"So he gives you guys nicknames too, I thought that was just us." Hawkeye said.

"Nope." Ben said.

"What's yours?" Bruce asked him curiously.

"Rockbiter." Bruce chuckled. Hawkeye looked at Mr. Fantastic. Reed sighed.

"Armstrong." He said. Hawkeye laughed.

"Like Stretch Armstrong? That's hilarious. What about you." He said nodding at the Invisible Woman.

"He calls me Susan, you can too if you want." She said with a wink. Reed wrapped an arm around her doubly.

"_Mrs_. Richards." He emphasized. Susan slapped his arm.

"Oh come on Reed, they helped us out, we should at least be on a first name basis with them." She said.

"I'm Clint, Clint Barton." Barton said, kissing her hand. Reed scowled and rolled his limbs back to himself.

"Bruce." Banner said shyly shaking Susan's hand. The smile she sent back at them reached her eyes.

"I'm going to go get my instruments and examine the leftover residue from the portal." Richards said, almost running away. Tony flew up with plastic bags hanging around his arms.

"I'm back with Shawarma!" He yelled happily.

"What is it with you and Shawarma?" Hawkeye muttered to himself.


	7. Chapter 7

(2.4m)abny

The Iron Man suit was safely ensconced in its container. The three tired but Shawarma sated superheroes caught a stray taxi and returned to Avenger Tower. Tony tipped the cabbie generously. Together they entered the busy tower lobby. As they reached the private elevator, one of the receptionists hailed them. She trotted towards them, her heels clicking on the marble floors, waving an envelope. "Dr. Banner, your letter's arrived." Bruce walked over to her, smiling and took the creased letter.

"Thank you Camilla." Bruce said carefully taking the crinkled envelope. He smoothed it against his chest.

"You're welcome!" Camilla gushed, fidgeting with the sleeve at her wrist. She nodded politely to Tony and turned to head back to her desk. Tony looked after her, and then at Bruce, the letter, and then his gaze traveled back to the receptionist curiously.

"How do you know Camilla? And who writes letters anymore anyways?" Tony asked, distractedly. Bruce rolled his eyes briefly.

"I _have_ visited the lobby at least a _few_ times in the past two months, Tony. And if you must know…"

"I must, I must." Tony insisted playfully.

"The letter is from Steve." Bruce informed him in exasperation after they entered the elevator. Tony looked up in surprise.

"Steve? As in Rogers? _The_ Captain America has been writing you letters? Why? Doesn't he know how to email? The poor guy needs an upgrade; he must still think it's the dark ages! Ugh, _letters_." Tony said in disgust while shaking his head. Clint chimed in.

"He's been writing me and Natasha too actually. I still have no idea how he managed to get the things delivered to me on the Helicarrier, but then I have no idea how I got your invite to the tower…" Clint wondered, sending a considering look at Tony.

"Pepper and I are in the process of negotiating the ownership of the United States Postal Service, and that explains _everything_ from my end. As for Cap, he probably uses messenger pigeons or something equally prehistoric. But that's not the subject at hand-you guys have been getting letters from _Rogers_!?" Tony questioned.

"I don't know about Clint, but I've been communicating with him since the invasion." Bruce said.

"Me and Nat too." Clint added.

"And what does the mighty Captain write about?" Tony asked.

"Nothing much really, just how his day's been, the places he sees, the people he meets, that sort of thing." Bruce listed with an apologetic shrug.

"And you _bother_ reading that?" Tony sneered. Clint frowned.

"Not everyone is a two dimensional, shallow asshole. Maybe _that's_ why Steve doesn't write you." Clint said. Bruce threw a green death glare in Clint's direction. Clint ducked his head. Tony missed the interplay as he put a hand up to where his Arc reactor used to rest, in mock hurt.

"Ouch, you wound me Barton. So you guys respond to his letters then?" Tony continued conversationally.

"Yeah." Clint said.

"It would be rude not to." Bruce said ruefully, his eyes back to their normal hue. Tony didn't ask what they wrote to Rogers, it wasn't his business. And contrary to popular opinion he did know where to draw the line. The others left for their flats and he got off at his workshop. He staggered to his wall of wine coolers and picked out a good year. Well all the year's he had were good, but this one was particularly fine. He settled at his desk and popped the cork, pouring the dark red in a carafe to breathe for a few minutes. DUM-E rolled up to him wanting attention. Tony patted his strut absentmindedly. He was not insulted and hurt about not getting any letters from the great and powerful Steve Rogers. Because that would be childish, which he wasn't, and he wasn't a part of the team anyways, so it didn't matter really. It didn't. He decided to take a shower, have a panic attack and then drink until he stopped seeing the dark void of the portal haunting his minds eye, not necessarily in that order, Tony thought, as he began brutally chugging the cabernet.

"Nick Fury is calling for you Sir." Tony Stark lay on the floor under his metal worktable, leaning against a table leg. He held a tablet in his hands, as he absently worked on designing some acid arrows for Clint. A half full bottle of pinot noir rested between his knees. At JARVIS' voice, he waved in the general direction of the ceiling.

"Fan-_tastic_! Put him through J, no visual." Tony said vaguely. Fury's voice echoed in the spacious workshop.

"Stark!" Fury barked.

"Nicky, _darling_, how are you? Any new evil plots afoot lately? Mayhaps a call to assemble to fight malicious man-eating marshmallows from outerspace? I really hope this isn't a social call, cause I'm soooo not up for that, I'd rather face man-eating marshmallows." Tony said owlishly, as he tiredly reached up to place the Starkpad on the table above him.

"You drunk?" Fury asked gruffly.

"Working on it." Tony replied with a bitter smirk, tipping the wine bottle back to his mouth. Tony was an accomplished drinker having already finished off two bottles of insanely expensive wine. He was startled that Fury had figured out that he had been drinking.

"Why am I not surprised?" Fury muttered disgustedly.

"Because you're Nick fucking Fury, you're never surprised are you?" He asked.

"I wouldn't say never..." Fury said in a wirily tone. Tony put the bottle back between his legs and straightened himself more against the table leg.

"How's the puppet WSC working for you?" Tony asked suddenly.

"Well enough." Fury answered simply.

"I still don't know why you insisted on putting that Alexander Pierce on the council." Tony wondered out loud.

"He's the one who recommended me to be SHIELD's director to the original WSC, and he's a trusted friend." Fury said quietly.

"Trust and friendship, not words one would associate with you." Tony said.

"There's a good reason for that." Fury said.

"I'm sure." Tony agreed.

"I also had to, most of our assets are located on American soil, and it pays to have the US government think that they still have a hand in things." Tony snorted at that.

"And your dear trusted friend doesn't know that the rest of the council doesn't actually exist?" Stark asked.

"Not a clue." Fury said with certainty.

"Some trusted friend you have there." Tony said.

"Exactly." Fury said. Implying of course, that if that was how he treated his trusted friends, how would he treat his enemies? "I was right not to trust him." Fury added slowly. Tony folded his legs one atop the other and took another gulp of his wine.

"Oh?" He asked curiously, taking the obvious bait.

"Lets just say, I need to clean house." Fury said. Tony shook his head at the spy's ambiguity.

"Ugh. Your spynessness is giving me hives. Cut to the chase Fury, I've got things that need doing. What do you want?" Tony asked, exasperated.

"I need one of those RVF masks you've been working on and another LMD, this one, for me." Fury said.

"I'm not going to ask how you know about the masks, but why an LMD for you?" Tony asked, his sharp eyes, narrowing. Fury completely ignored his question.

"It needs to be able to pass a complete medical workup. Can you do it, or not Stark?" Fury snapped.

"You know I can, but I'd like to know why you would need a decoy? How dirty is your house?" Tony asked.

"Very, and I have no idea who to trust."

"And yet you trust me, I'm flattered." Tony said.

"I trust you as far as I can throw you when you're in the Iron Man suit." Fury said.

"Then why tell me?" Tony asked.

"Project Insight." Fury responded simply.

"What about it?"

"You know about it, you helped supply the tech for the new carriers." Fury answered. Stark rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I know, I was there." He said. Fury huffed out a breath.

"I think there is something wrong with the Project. It was too easy to get the funding, the approval came too quickly." Fury said.

"Sometimes things are easy." Tony said carefully, fiddling with the bottle between his hands.

"No they're not." Fury said.

"No they're not." Tony agreed back. "So what do you think is going on?" He asked.

"I don't know, and I'm not sure something is up, _yet_. But something smells like three week dead Chitauri and I want a back up plan in case something does go wrong." Fury said.

"I trusted you with my repulsion tech, Fury. Do I need to take care of this problem for you…_again_?" Tony said angrily, his eyes flashing.

"This is my house, I'll take care of it." Fury said, his tone one of tightly reined in anger. Tony nodded and thought for a moment.

"You still using the good Captain for missions?" Tony asked offhandedly.

"That isn't any of your business." Fury said. He paused, then added grudgingly curious. "Why do you want to know?" Tony shrugged to himself.

"You said you didn't know who to trust. Cap's up in DC with you. Maybe you should trust him. After all, if you can't trust Captain America, who can you trust?" There was a full minute of silence. Tony smiled, pleased that he had silenced the super spy. "By the way, the Hawk's missing his Spider, I don't suppose you would know where she is, would you?" Tony asked casually, finishing off the pinot noir.

"…The LMD, and RVF, how much?" Fury asked softly, disregarding Stark's question. Tony sighed, annoyed.

"Fine, keep your secrets, Mr. McSpy. But it's gonna cost you. 225 all together, and I'll throw in the specs for free. To pass medical, it'll need to be way more detailed than the council members' so I'll need a full biometric scan and makeup." Tony finished quickly, without a slur.

"It'll be sent to you." Fury said.

"I wait with baited breath." Tony said.

"And sober the fuck up, you know the shit we'll be facing soon enough, you've seen what is being kept on level 8, we can't afford for you to indulge in your vices." Fury said. Tony glared at the air in front of him.

"_Fuck_ you." Stark snarled before Fury hung up. Then he threw the empty bottle across the room, where it flew through a colorful holographic target before shattering against the far wall. Butterfingers began sweeping it up as Tony left the underside of the table to begin work on Fury's LMD.

(2.9m)abny

The three superhero's sat around the oak kitchen table on Tony's floor. "Why do I have two hands, Tony?" Bruce asked holding his hands up, each holding five Apples to Apples cards. Tony peered over the cards fanned out in his own hand.

"I don't know, maybe because you were born that way?" Tony said sarcastically. Clint sniggered as he drank his cola, his cards resting face down in front of him. Bruce put the cards down and sighed.

"Seriously though, you do know that I don't have dissociative identity disorder?" Bruce asked. Tony nodded as he changed the order of the cards in his hand.

"Sure. But Hulk should get to play too, it wouldn't be fair to exclude the guy just because he's an awesome mean green fighting machine who happens to live inside an awesome tea drinking super scientist, now would it?"

"Just be happy and take the handicap Banner, he's not going to stop otherwise." Clint said with a wave towards Tony. Tony saluted him back with his middle finger.

"Fine." Bruce agreed finally.

"Okay, I go first, cause I said. The word is, Hilarious." Tony said. Clint stared at each card he had, his brows scrunched up in confusion. He put the cards back face down on the table and crossed his arms.

"Alright I call mulligan, did you alter these cards or what? I used to play this game all the time with Ph-, friends. I don't know what any of these are. I mean, come on, transdimensional profundity? Flight of the Concords? LP? And who's Richard Dawkins?" Hawkeye asked.

"A renowned evolutionary psychologist, who happens to be an avid Doctor Who fan. I, however, want to know who Cecil Baldwin is." Bruce said while looking at one of his cards through his glasses. Tony's eyes widened comically.

"You're kidding right? Have you been living under a rock?" Bruce arched his eyebrow, while Clint stared at him.

"Yeah dude, he kinda has, but I don't know who that is either." Barton said. Tony tossed his cards into the box, annoyed.

"The game was boring before, I made it better, waaay better. But whatever, fine, different game then, sheesh! How about…?" Tony tapped his lip thoughtfully. "Who here can play Magic the Gathering?" He finally asked. Banner raised his hand shyly and pushed his glasses up on his nose. Tony smiled and slapped Bruce's raised hand with his own.

"That's my Science Bro." Tony said. Bruce smiled nervously in return.

"You guys are _such_ geeks." Clint said.

"Sticks and stones…" Bruce said quietly.

"Says the guy who thinks using a bow and arrow is the epitome of cool." Tony said. "Since you live with us now, you will have to feed the starved inner geek within you. Feed your geekiness Hood. Feed. Your. Geekiness." Tony annunciated slowly. Clint smiled and threw back his soda.

"Fine Tony, show me how to play." Clint said, giving in.

"I've got some spare decks you guys could use." Tony got up and went for his game room. He came back a few minutes later with several boxes. "Ok, elf deck for Brucie, spirits for Hulk, solider deck for Clint, and squirrels for me." Tony said passing out the decks. Bruce accepting without protest, the fact that he had to play with two decks. Tony and Bruce taught the sharpshooter how to play. Clint caught on surprisingly quickly. They then began playing in earnest.

"Why is it called tapping mana when I'm _turning_ the card? What sense does that make?" Barton asked at one point. Bruce and Tony shared a look.

"Just shut up and be decimated by my squirrels of doom Clint." Tony said as he turned his cards to attack.

(3m)abny

Tony Stark lay in the center of his large bed for once. He hadn't tried sleeping in a proper bed since he had left Pepper. He tossed and turned in the silken sheets as they twisted around him. He groaned loudly, his eyes wincing.

"N-no." He moaned.

"Sir?" Jarvis asked. Tony whimpered.

"Please, don-, Ob-"

"Sir? Wake up!" Tony startled awake, his eyes wide and breathing heavily. He struggled to a sitting position as he clutched at the phantom pain in his chest, feeling the smooth titanium cover where his arc used to reside. Sometimes he missed the reassuring blue glow, more than sometimes.

"J-JARVIS?" He asked the dim room desperately.

"I'm here sir. The time is 2pm. You are in Avenger Tower and the sun should be shining." Tony took a moment to process what his A.I. had said.

"Should be?" He asked, looking toward the nearest eyecam.

"I'm afraid so Sir. There is a thunder god currently reclining on the penthouse balcony." JARVIS said dryly.

"Thor's here." Tony stated, hearing the thunder and pelting rain even from within his bedroom.

"Indeed, Sir." JARVIS affirmed. Tony rose from his bed slowly.

"Yay." He said without much joy. He put on some shoes and brought a large umbrella with him as he headed for his common room, still in his Iron Man pajama pants and black T. He glared at the rain pounding outside the glass doors to the balcony. His glare then refocused on the large and muscular hunched man sitting on the ledge of his terrace. He took a breath, opened the umbrella and braved the rain outside. Luckily there wasn't any wind. The rain sheeted straight down, falling around the umbrella, avoiding him completely. He could see the darkened clouds surrounding Avenger Tower in a mile wide circle. The rest of the city was in full sunshine. _Fucking rain_, Tony thought viciously. He studiously avoided puddles as he walked over to the god sitting on his ledge. He stood behind him and resisted the urge to shove him off. After all, the god _could_ fly. "Turn off the waterworks, would you?!" Tony yelled over the roar of the rain and thunder. Thor turned to look at him and Tony swallowed some of his ire at the man's wrecked expression.

"My apologies Man of Iron, I did not know you would be in your spire." Thor said quietly, his voice somehow cutting through the sound and fury of the weather raging around them. Thor turned to look back out over the city as the storm around them quieted, the rain and thunder ceasing altogether, although the storm clouds yet remained.

"Why are you here?" Tony asked as he folded up the umbrella and leaned on it.

"I did not wish to share my burden with my Lady, I came here on a whim, nothing more." Thor said. All energy and vitality seemed drained from him.

"Your lady?" Tony asked. Thor's lips quirked upward slightly.

"My Lady, the mortal, Jane Foster." Thor said. Tony hummed to himself, twisting the umbrella in his hands.

"Jane Foster? The astrophysicist?"

"Indeed, that is her title." Thor asserted.

"I know her, sort of; tried to hire her for SI. She's very clever, top of her field." He said. Thor smiled in earnest.

"Truly, she is beyond compare!" Thor declared proudly before sinking once more into himself. Tony steeled himself.

"What's bothering you?" Tony asked cautiously.

"My mother and brother have both left this life for another." Thor said sadly, thunder rumbled distantly. Tony looked up worriedly before popping the umbrella back open and raising it above his head, just in case.

"Oh…I'm sorry." Tony said, his eyes fixated on the clouds above.

"I know my brother's death will only bring you and many other's joy, however his last acts in life were heroic and he was my brother." Thor said earnestly, strangling the grip of the hammer in his hands. Tony looked down at the morose god.

"I don't know what to say Thor, I'm not good at this kind of thing… Feelings they make me itchy…you know?" Tony trailed off uncertainly. He shook himself and nodded to the penthouse behind him. "Why don't we go inside, we can drink, eat, whatever, and you can tell me about it, if you want? I may not have known your mother, or liked your brother all that much or at all... I've certainly never had any siblings, or been that close with my own family, but…I can listen…" Thor looked up at his fellow warrior standing awkwardly behind him, holding up an umbrella against any possibility of rain. He read true sympathy in the man's eyes, a desire to help.

"Yes…Man of Iron, that would be well, perhaps you are not as bad at these things as you think." Thor said.

"Call me Tony." Tony said as they walked through the glass doors together.

"Friend Tony, show me these drinks and victuals of yours!" Thor yelled as he slapped the slighter man on the back, causing him to stumble as they entered the penthouse, leaving the dark clouds swirling behind them.


	8. Chapter 8

(3m)abny

Natasha Romanoff watched over the burning ruins of yet another facility that had been run by the people that had made her. Not her parents, never them, they had been people, humans; she barely remembered what they looked like. No, monsters had made her; real ones, ones that made the Hulk look like a Sesame Street knock off…ones like her. She didn't even remember what it felt like to be human. Oh, she could play at it, they had taught her well, but she couldn't _feel_ it, not the way she was sure she should. Natasha used to wonder if everyone else was pretending to be human too and they were just better at it. Clint had convinced her otherwise. He was certainly more human than she would ever be. Smoke issued forth from fissures in the ground in front of her from the underground facility. This hadn't been _her_ Red Room, but it had been _a_ Red Room. It pleased the growling thing deep within her to see it being reduced to ash. If she could express her emotions like a proper human, she would be laughing and dancing around the destroyed site in unrestrained joy. As it was a slight smile curved her lips and then it curled still further, showing her teeth in a stiff snarl. She ducked further down behind the snowdrift as an unmarked military vehicle traveled down the dirt road.

It hadn't been her who had destroyed this building, or the others like it. Oh she would have, even without orders, she had always wanted to do this, to have some actual revenge, besides using her talents to balk her former country that had used and abused her, to work on the side of the angels. But no, it had not been her. Fury had offered to put her on this stealth op. months ago, almost directly after the battle, no one was to know where she was and what she was up to, not even Hawkeye. She was in the spy business, keeping secrets was the job, even if she had to keep them from Clint…it kept him safer that way. Fury had ordered her to recover, or if necessary, destroy any and all information that Hawkeye and the other agents under Loki's control had leaked to their various enemies. She had agreed to go; it was better if she was the one that covered for Clint, after all, what she had said to Loki had been true, she owed Barton, for everything.

While on the trail of the missing information, interrogating one of SHIELD's more well known enemies, Natasha had found that they possessed some of the new SHIELD weapons, weapons they had only just gotten after the Battle for New York, and therefore after Clint and the other agents had returned to themselves. She reported back to Fury, who in turn told her that he believed that there were moles buried in SHIELD, betraying them from within. He didn't know who, but he expected her to find out. Which was why she was currently investigating the recent spate of destruction that had been plaguing the top-secret labs and facilities in her mother Russia. Fury thought it might have something to do with the infiltrators that were working inside of SHIELD. He had even suspected her of being one and orchestrating the attacks, which was understandable; Fury knew where she had come from. But he had had her under careful surveillance, which had cleared her. She looked out across the snow-covered field, checked the military's position and then retreated to her snowmobile two miles back, hidden beneath a white tarp. As she sped away she considered the intel she had gathered so far. It seemed these attacks had been perpetrated by the hitman known as the Winter Soldier. She had caught a brief glimpse of him at the Pavlovian Institute a week ago, before it had blossomed into a fiery explosion behind him in the night sky; his metallic arm shinning in the reflected orange glow. She tried to follow him, but lost him in the ensuing chaos. It was strange. The Winter Soldier had apparently been around for decades; how he was alive and still killing she couldn't guess. People didn't grow old in her line of work. She had even encountered him once before... Natasha held a hand to her side, fingering the old scar through her spotted white furs as she drove; there was a larger scar on her back where the Soldier's bullet had exited. The Winter Soldier was a ghost, a shrouded figure in the world of assassination. He was supposed to be a merc, going where the most money paid him. But who would pay to have these experimental facilities destroyed when most of them had been long out of use? Also, once upon a time the Soldier had only worked Russian contracts for a number of years... It was a mystery, _he_ was a mystery, and as to what the connection was between the Soldier, SHIELD, and the moles, Natasha didn't know. Yet. It was time to go home, but first she had to report her findings to the Director, and then investigate the Triskelion for anyone acting out of character, she would finish this mission and then go to Barton. The job always came first, that had been Clint's first lesson, oddly enough that had been the Red Room's too.

(3m)abny

Tony led Thor straight to the bar in his penthouse, leaning the umbrella against the couch on his way. He then had JARVIS order some pizza, 5 different pies. Thor looked around trying to pinpoint the origin of JARVIS' voice. "An invisible servant! Midgard must be more like Asgard than I thought!" Thor exclaimed. Tony smiled and gestured around them.

"I created him actually. JARVIS helps me with my work and runs this building…and my life. He is an extremely advanced A.I; I'm not sure how to put that in Viking, uh… He's a soul powered by electricity, er-lightning?" Thor frowned.

"We do have technology on Asgard." Thor said. Tony's eyes widened mischievously.

"You do?" Tony asked. Thor nodded sagely.

"In point of fact Asgardian technology is far superior to Midgard's." Thor said arrogantly.

"It is? So the Einstein-Rosen Bridge that you arrived on would be powered through a convex redundant spatial fissure, yeah?" Thor frowned further and rubbed the handle of the hammer hanging from his side.

"I do not know of these words which you speak." Thor said, annoyed. Tony smiled.

"Yeah, I didn't think you would." Tony muttered. "Annnyways. Most of my furniture and appliances have their own A.I.s or are run by JARVIS." He said more loudly as he moved behind the bar and poured out a splash of Scotch for himself. "So what's your poison?" Tony asked. Thor's hammer slammed shockingly into his fist and his eyes blazed.

"You wish to poison me Man of Iron? For what purpose would you do this, and why would I tell which poison would harm me? You will not find me easy prey!" Thor bellowed moving menacingly toward Tony. Tony held up his hands, one with the glass of scotch still gripped in it.

"Whoa, whoa there, Muscles. It's just a saying, from you know, Midgard? It means, what do you want to drink?!" Tony said. Thor stopped and lowered his eyes and hammer in shame.

"Ah…I see, my apologies once again, I will have whatever you think satisfactory. I am still trying to fathom the customs of this world-my world and have much to learn." Thor said quietly.

"Your world?" Tony asked as he poured Thor a glass of scotch as well.

"I have forsaken my home to live here on Midgard permanently with my Jane, there is nothing left for me on Asgard." Thor said sadly, seating his large bulk on the small stool in front of the bar.

"That must be hard." Tony said consolingly. Thor nodded grimly.

"The decision was difficult, yes, but necessary. I could no longer split my life between worlds, nor could I ask Jane to leave her home for mine, and Midgard needs me here." Thor took the drink Tony offered, eyed it, and then chugged it back. His eyes widened, pleased.

"This is good, Anthony! Another!" Thor yelled and then threw the glass onto the floor, shattering it across the marble. Tony almost jumped out of his skin and then gripped at his fast beating heart.

"Shit! Don't _do_ that!" Tony yelled desperately. Thor looked up regretfully.

"Jane has told me not to do this before, it was a very pleasing brew, and for a moment I had forgotten myself. In Asgard that is how we show our appreciation for a good drink." Thor said.

"Asgardian cup makers must be making a mint." Tony said to himself, and then he moved around the bar to assess the damage and groaned piteously. "Ugh, my poor glass, what did he do to you my darling?" Tony said while looking at the remains on his floor disconsolately. Thor almost fell off his stool in shock and stood up, moving gracelessly towards the broken glass on the floor.

"Was that another of your creations Man of Iron, was it…_sentient_, one of you're A.I.'s?" Tony just gaped at him. Thor became even more distressed. "I have harmed a being beneath your roof while being your guest. Please tell me what I can do to make amends for this blunder, I would give anything!" Thor said pleadingly. Tony lifted his head, hopeful, a gleam in his eyes.

"Anything?" He asked slowly. Thor bowed his head.

"Anything you wish Anthony and if it is within my power it is yours!" Thor intoned earnestly. Tony held up a finger.

"First call me Tony, and second, come live here with me at the tower." Tony said.

"You want me to live in your spire?" Thor asked, confused.

"Why not? You could bring Jane Foster, there's more than enough room, and many of the others of the team are already living here." Tony said shrugging. Thor looked off to the side.

"… I shall, discuss this invitation with my lady." He said, considering. Tony looked back down at the shattered glass.

"I thought you had said, anything." Tony said mournfully, pouting. Thor looked back at him and grinned, nodding his head decisively.

"Very well, let it not be said that Thor is not a god of his word, this spire shall become my new home!" He yelled enthusiastically reaching up to pound Tony on his shoulder in camaraderie. Tony smiled, rubbing his shoulder, and moved back to the bar to get more alcohol as JARVIS announced that the pizzas had arrived.

"Good. It's settled, so lets get smashed, not Hulk smashed, but like drink smashed, but not your kind of drink smashing. Ugh, never mind, let's just drink, have pizza, and you can tell me your problems. Then I'll show you your new awesome digs!"

"I did not understand all your words friend Tony, but I believe I agree with them all. Let us get…smashed, and I shall tell you of all my recent adventures and sorrows!"

Loud drunken bawdy singing echoed along the vents of Avenger tower, reaching the spy currently lurking in the duct system of the Avenger floor's common room. He had discovered this floor weeks ago, though Stark had yet to give them the run of it. Clint Barton figured that Tony was still tweaking some of the details, or maybe waiting until the entire team showed up. Clint wasn't sure. He followed the sound of the drunken voices until he ended up on what he had assumed was Thor's floor, the large barrels of mead had given him a clue. He found Tony and the God of Thunder trading back and forth all the drinking songs they knew as they tossed back the mead in the gilded hall that Tony had designed to make the alien feel at home. Clint shook his head at the picture and at yet another addition to their growing team, before quietly backing out to go to his own floor. He couldn't help wondering when Nat would end up coming here. He didn't doubt it would happen. Tony Stark seemed to know what he was doing when he rebuilt this tower. Barton left the vents on his floor and climbed up a ladder to the loft where his bed was. It was an open space that looked out over his simplistic living room and kitchen. It had been designed perfectly for him. It all confirmed it, Tony knew what he was doing, and frankly, Clint was just glad someone did.


End file.
